Please don’t hurt my boy, mother begs kidnappers

THE mother of a five-year-old British boy snatched by gun-wielding robbers in Pakistan wept yesterday as she begged the kidnappers not to hurt him.

Akila Naqqash, 31, said there was “no way” her family could afford the £100,000 (€110,000) ransom on her son Sahil Saeed’s head.

He was snatched yesterday morning at his grandmother’s house in the Punjab region by five robbers.

Speaking at her home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, Naqqash paid tribute to her “really sweet boy”.

“We have got no idea why we were targeted, we don’t have any money. There is no way we could raise that money, there is nothing we can do.

“I would say (to the kidnappers) just why? Why can’t you just be a grown person? He is just a little boy. He is just five years old, he was due to come home today. Please don’t hurt him.”

Breaking down in tears, she added: “He is just a really sweet little boy, he is really tiny, he would not harm anyone.’

His father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, said the kidnappers had originally put a noon deadline on the ransom for his safe return.

The father was “hysterical” after gunmen held the family at gunpoint throughout the night. He said robbers armed with guns and hand grenades broke into the house in Jhelum, where he and his son were staying.

Ms Naqqash, who also has two daughters, Anisha, four, and Hafsah, 21 months, said she had heard nothing from the kidnappers. She added: “My husband would swap places if he could, he said to them ‘take me, I’ll be your hostage’. We just want him back home.”

The boy’s aunt, Amrana Iftikhar, called for the Prime Minister to intervene.

“I just can’t imagine life without Sahil. We just want him home safely.

“We have had no contact with the authorities in this country. Please just help us. He is five years old he is going to be really scared, he never leaves his mum and dad’s side.”

Relatives said they were beaten, slapped and kicked by the robbers during a six-hour ordeal. The father told Sky News: “They took me into the separate room and they tortured me.

“They said ‘we will take your son and you will have to pay £100,000’.”

A spokesman for the British High Commission in Islamabad said they had broken into the property at 11pm. “I can confirm that he was taken… We cannot confirm details of the ransom amount but the father has said it is £100,000.”