A 21-year-old woman who requires continuing treatment for a heart condition has allegedly been forcibly disappeared during a raid on her family home in Balochistan’s Gwadar district, where her younger brother has been missing since April.
Shaista Noor Kalmati, daughter of Noor Muhammad Kalmati, was taken from her home in Panwan, Jiwani, at around 1 a.m. on Monday, according to family members and local sources.
Her elder brother, Zaheer Noor, said Pakistani forces had raided the house and taken her away, and the family had received no information about her whereabouts. He said Shaista had previously undergone heart surgery and needed regular medication, treatment and medical supervision.
Eyewitnesses and family members said male and female military personnel took part in the raid. They said personnel had also raided the house a day earlier, assaulted family members and attempted to take Shaista away, but relatives intervened and prevented them from doing so.
The personnel returned in greater numbers the following night and took her into custody, the family said.
Shaista’s younger brother, Ali Asghar Kalmati, a minor, has remained missing since Pakistani forces allegedly took him away on April 16.
Rights Groups Demand Siblings’ Release
The Baloch Women Forum (BWF), Paank and Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) condemned Shaista’s reported disappearance and called for her immediate recovery and access to medical care.
In a statement, the BWF identified the personnel who took Shaista as Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials accompanied by men in plain clothes. It said personnel had ransacked the house, damaged belongings and seized the family’s mobile phones during the first raid.
The forum said the family home had also been demolished on July 6, leaving Shaista’s elderly mother dependent on relatives for shelter. With both Shaista and Ali Asghar missing, it said, their mother faced uncertainty over their fate as well as the loss of her home.
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“Shaista must be provided with urgent medical attention, uninterrupted access to her cardiac medication and an independent medical examination,” the BWF said.
It demanded disclosure of both siblings’ whereabouts and their safe, unconditional release, alongside an impartial investigation into the raids, seizure of belongings and demolition of the home. It also called for their mother to be protected from further harassment.
The BWF cited the cases of Mahjabeen Baloch, Nasreena Baloch and Habiba Peerjan and expressed concern over the targeting of women in their homes, educational institutions and everyday lives.
“The abduction of Baloch women must never become an accepted instrument of repression,” it said.
Paank, the human rights department of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), attributed the raid to Pakistani army personnel and said Shaista also had a blood disorder that required continuous treatment.
“Without medical care in custody, her health is at grave risk,” the rights organisation said.
Paank described the family’s experience as “collective punishment” and said repeated raids, demolitions and disappearances had forced families from Panwan to leave the area.
The organisation demanded the immediate release of Shaista and Ali Asghar and urged the United Nations and international human rights organisations to take notice of their cases.
VBMP said it had received a complaint from Zaheer Noor about his sister’s disappearance. Its chairman, Nasrullah Baloch, expressed concern for her health and over the continued disappearance of Ali Asghar.
Nasrullah said holding people without fulfilling legal requirements and withholding information from their families violated the Constitution, the law and fundamental rights. He called for Shaista’s safe recovery, immediate medical care and disclosure of her whereabouts to her family.
If there were allegations against her, she should be brought before a court in accordance with the law, he said, and demanded the recovery of Ali Asghar and all other missing people.