Murtaza Wahab under fire in Sindh Assembly over child's death in open manhole

The tragic death of three-year-old Ibrahim, who fell into an uncovered manhole near the Nipa flyover late on Sunday night, has stirred widespread condemnation and political uproar across Sindh.

Ibrahim slipped into the open drain outside a departmental store while his parents were shopping. Rescue teams, hindered by lack of proper equipment and absence of sewer-data maps, combed the area overnight.

After more than 14 hours of frantic searching, and with help from community members who brought in heavy machinery themselves, the boy’s body was recovered from a drainage channel nearly one kilometer away from the site of the fall. 

Residents say they made over 40 calls and emails to relevant authorities, but only one BRT engineer responded. Local people staged protests at Nipa Chowrangi, blocking roads and burning tires to express their outrage. 

In the ensuing session of the Sindh Assembly on Monday, lawmakers fiercely criticized the city’s civic administration. Murtaza Wahab, the Mayor of Karachi, came under sharp fire. 

Jamaat-e-Islami’s MPA Muhammad Farooq demanded Wahab’s immediate resignation, blaming his government and Muttahida Qaumi Movement‑Pakistan (MQM-P) for the “civic collapse.” 

Independent MPA Rehan Bandukda condemned the lack of rescue machinery and called it a shameful failure of emergency response. 

Meanwhile, MQM-P MPA Taha Ahmed questioned why the child’s parents had to arrange rescue gear themselves when public institutions and officials were in place, criticizing empty promises that “never materialise.” 

Responding to mounting pressure, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon expressed sorrow and termed the tragedy “criminal negligence.” He assured that rescue efforts began within 15–30 minutes of the initial alert and promised a full inquiry to identify the responsible parties. 

Mayor Wahab, for his part, ordered a formal investigation, offered condolences to the family, and said CCTV footage from the store was being obtained. He directed the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) to look into how the manhole cover went missing. 

The horrific death of young Ibrahim has once again emphasized the dire state of civic safety in Karachi, igniting calls for accountability, urgent infrastructure repair, and a rethinking of how public safety is managed across the metropolis.