A sit-in protest continued in Quetta on Wednesday against the alleged enforced disappearance of Bolan Medical College (BMC) student Khadija Baloch.
Protesters gathered at Golimar Chowk and said the demonstration was a response to what they described as repression targeting Baloch women, adding that female students were no longer safe in either their homes or educational institutions.
They said enforced disappearances in Balochistan were increasing and that women were now being openly targeted.
The protest erupted after the reported disappearance of Khadija Baloch, a seventh-semester BS Nursing student, who was taken into custody during a raid on the BMC girls’ hostel and moved to an undisclosed location.
Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Sabiha Baloch said the situation in Balochistan had escalated into a “humanitarian crisis,” adding that violations had reached a point where the “sanctity of human life” appeared to have eroded.
She said that in the first months of 2026, more than 70 people had fallen victim to a “kill and dump” policy, in which individuals were forcibly disappeared and later killed extrajudicially, while hundreds, including women, remain missing.
Referring to Khadija Baloch’s case, she said her disappearance from the BMC hostel was “deeply concerning,” adding that students protesting outside the college were facing pressure and harassment, with fears that police could attempt to disperse the sit-in.
She described the situation as a violation of “constitutional and fundamental human rights” and called on citizens, civil society and students in Quetta to join the protest, while urging national and international human rights organizations to take notice.
BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch said enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings had become routine in Balochistan, adding that women were now directly being targeted.
“The most alarming aspect is that the disappearance of women is being normalized,” she said.
She said Pakistani forces had raided the BMC girls’ hostel and taken Khadija Baloch into custody, after which no information about her whereabouts had been provided.
She also referred to the case of Haseena Baloch, a resident of Awaran who had been living in Karachi, who was taken into custody days earlier and remains unaccounted for.
She said enforced disappearances are considered illegal worldwide but in Balochistan have taken the form of an “organized policy,” and called for wider participation in the ongoing sit-in for Khadija Baloch’s recovery.