Street children

Whilst shopping in Rawalakot I came across a group of 5 children begging. I gave them some money and as I tried to take a photo of them a shop keeper came out and chased then away. I just manage to catch these 2 girls with bare feet.

There are always children begging everywhere in Pakistan and kashmir. Whenever you stop in the car at traffic lights they knock on the car window asking for money. Even late at night in the shopping centres they follow you around. Some pretend to have injuries and fold their arm inside shirt sleeves to make you think they have lost it. Mothers with young babies also beg for money for milk. I have seen several with bandages wrapped round their babies heads with blood stains on them. Whether they really have an injury is anybody's guess. The disabled are also more or less forced to beg as I don't think there are any benefits for them there. It is not unusually to see legless men sitting on boards with small wheels on them reaching up from the road to knock on the car windows. I am sure many of them receive even more injuries from the traffic.