Karachi: At least 35 girls between the ages of five and 13 years have been sent to a government shelter after they were abandoned by a madrassa.

The girls, who hail from the Bajaur area in the restive norther tribal, had been brought to Karachi four months ago for admission at the madrassa where they would be taught to memorise the Quran.

The young girls, who had been staying at an unregistered madrassa in the Jamshed Road neighbourhood located in the eastern part of the city, were dumped by the owner of the madrassa over a financial dispute.

According to Rubina Kaimkhani, the provincial Minister for Women’s Welfare, the teacher and owner of the madrassa, one Hameeda Khatoon, left the girls in the custody of a man who owed her money.

“The innocent girls have been used as a tool for recovery of the loan,” Kaimkhani said.

Following their rescue by authorities on Wednesday, the girls were moved to a police station where anxious relatives awaited.

However, the police refused to handover the girls as they were still unsure as to the nature of the crime.

“We made it a point to handover the girls only to their parents and not any relatives to ensure their safety,” Tahir Naveed, a senior police officer, said.

Police officials are currently seeking the advice of their legal department as to under which legal clause the case should be dealt with.

So far, only one girl has been reunited with her family. She was the only one not from Bajaur and was handed over to her parents at 3am, according to Kaimkhani.

“The rest were sent to Darul Binnat [a shelter taking specialising in the care of girl children] where they are [being] taken good care of,” she said.

Police have since detained the owner of the madrassa and the man she is embroiled in the dispute with.

Meanwhile, the Karachi commissioner’s officer resolved to handover the girls to authorities who had arrived from the tribal areas, with Shoaib Siddiqui, the commissioner of Karachi, saying the girls’ parents could then contact the tribal authorities to get their children. The remaining girls will be handed over to the political agent of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Afzal Kham, the assistant political agent, who reached here today, also confirmed to the media that the girls would be taken to the Bajour Agency, where their parents would be located.

However, the provincial chief of police, told the media that a case would be registered, adding that the girls would only be handed to their parents following judicial process.