We must stand fiercely against this cruelty. Protecting children is not just about safeguarding individuals; it is about protecting the very heartbeat of our families. For when you break a mother’s heart, you tear at the fabric of humanity itself.
By Hakeem Prem Chandwani
There are crimes that steal property, and there are crimes that steal lives. But the most insidious crime of all is the one that steals a future, leaving behind a hollow shell of existence. When we look at the horrifying act of kidnapping, the law focuses on the physical abduction of the victim. Society counts the days of captivity, weighs the ransom demands, and tracking the physical movements of the perpetrators.
But there is an invisible, devastating parallel crime happening entirely in the dark. As a profound truth reminds us: “Kidnappers are killers, of the emotions of mothers.
To understand the true weight of kidnapping, one must look away from the crime scene and into the eyes of the mother left behind.
The Anatomy of Emotional Execution
When a child is torn away, a mother’s emotional ecosystem is instantly shattered. It is not a sudden, merciful end; it is a continuous, agonizing execution of her peace, her joy, and her sanity. The bond between a mother and her child is not merely biological, it is an emotional lifeline. When that lifeline is violently severed, the trauma triggers a psychological devastation that words can barely capture.
The Death of Certainty
A mother’s life is anchored by the comfort of knowing her child is safe. Kidnapping replaces this certainty with an unbearable void. Every ticking second becomes a weapon, forcing her mind to construct horrific scenarios of her child’s suffering.
The Paralysis of Guilt
A mother inherently feels responsible for her child’s protection. In the wake of a abduction, an overwhelming, irrational guilt sets in. She punishes herself for sleeping, for eating, or for taking a breath while her child is out there in the dark.
The Agony of Suspended Grief
Unlike the finality of physical death, where the grieving process can eventually begin, kidnapping traps a mother in a state of perpetual limbo. She cannot mourn, yet she cannot celebrate. Her emotions are held hostage alongside her child.
Killers of the Unseen
Physical killers take a life in a single, terrible moment. But the kidnapper forces a mother to die a thousand times over, every single day. They kill her capacity for hope. They slaughter her sense of security in a world that suddenly feels entirely hostile. Every phone ring brings a heart-stopping mixture of terror and anticipation; every shadow at the door is a cruel tease.
Even in cases where a child is fortunately returned, the emotional scars rarely vanish completely. The innocence of the family unit has been murdered. The mother is left to battle the ghosts of anxiety and hyper-vigilance, constantly looking over her shoulder, forever altered by the trauma.
A Cry for a Safer World
This profound realization, that kidnappers are the ultimate executioners of a mother’s heart—shifts the narrative of how we view this crime. It demands that society, law enforcement, and communities treat abduction not just as a violation of physical freedom, but as a catastrophic assault on human emotion and the sacred bond of motherhood.
We must stand fiercely against this cruelty. Protecting children is not just about safeguarding individuals; it is about protecting the very heartbeat of our families. For when you break a mother’s heart, you tear at the fabric of humanity itself.
Let the world hear this truth clearly, so that the emotional slaughter of mothers finally comes to an end.
Read: Flying beyond the Horizon
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Hakeem Prem Chandwani, a poet and column, is based in Dokri town of Sindh. This is translation of his Sindhi article
