Islamabad, Jan 26 (IANS) The growing cases of newborn babies being abandoned across Pakistani cities and districts point towards individual moral and social collapse in the country. Earlier this month, a newborn baby was found abandoned in a garbage bin in Allama Iqbal Town of Pakistan’s Lahore, a report has stated.
Police has been informed about the case, though the condition of the baby has not been disclosed. The image of a newborn discarded in the garbage bin should have sparked outcry, however, it was met largely with weary resignation, an editorial in Pakistan’s leading daily ‘The Express Tribune’ highlighted.
This is not the only such case reported in Pakistan as earlier this month, rescue responders found a newborn baby in a waste container in Allama Iqbal Town. A few days ago, another infant was saved in the same area, The Express Tribune detailed.
Police found an infant in Attock and handed over the child to the Child Protection Bureau after no one came forward to take the child. In 2025, people living near Gajjumata Chowk found an infant girl sealed inside a plastic bag after they came out hearing out her desperate cries.
The Express Tribune stated, “The repetition is what should alarm us. These cases span cities, districts and months, pointing not to individual moral collapse alone but to a social one. Abandoning a child is a crime. But law enforcement alone cannot address the root causes driving desperate parents — often mothers with no safety net — to acts of abandonment.”
“Pakistan’s child protection framework, though improved on paper, remains reactive rather than preventive. Crisis counselling for pregnant women and safe shelters are either absent or unevenly implemented,” it added.
According to the editorial, Pakistan needs to implement accessible, confidential support systems for pregnant women in crisis, including counselling and medical care without fear of stigma or prosecution. Furthermore, Pakistan needs to introduce safe and anonymous child surrender mechanisms, allowing infants to be handed over to the state without being abandoned in life-threatening conditions.
–IANS
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