DADU: On Thursday members of the civil society and Child Rights Committee demanded that child protection laws be implemented in the district at a protest held before the local press club. The protestors said that Dadu was home to 3 65,817 children under the age of five who were being educated at private, government and religious schools, but 78,000 were deprived of education and were working at private institutions, factories and mills. They said that the negligence of the Sindh government had resulted in this situation which was leading to social problems, and that according to the law parents who force a child below the age of 14 to work can be punished by up to ten years in prison. The protestors alleged that there was no official in the Dadu Labour Office to see to this problem. The protestors demanded that the Sindh Chief Minister and other relevant authorities resolve the problem immediately and post officials in the labour office that would enforce laws regarding child labour. Man awarded life sentence: Ameer Faisal was awarded life imprisonment by First Additional Session Judge Nadeem Khan Pathan on Thursday. Faisal was awarded the sentence after the judge found him guilty of murdering Rafique Ahmed Jamali over a property dispute. The crime was committed in the limits of the Johi Town Police station Farmers accuse irrigation officials of facilitating water theft: Tail-end growers from the Pir Shakh irrigation branch condemned Irrigation Engineer Abdu Ghani Qureshi and other officials at a protest on Thursday. They alleged that these officials had sold water meant for irrigation to influential landlords. The protestors carried banners and placards inscribed with demands that the water be re-routed for its original purpose. Elaborating on the situation, they said that illegal branches had been created to divert water with the help of water pumps at various spots of the Phak Shakh irrigation channel. They made appeals to the Sindh Chief Minister to take action against the concerned officials and those helping them steal the water. Published in Daily Times, September 22nd 2017.