Consider this a warning, this is a long and lengthy post, poorly organized and more a rant than anything else.
Does anyone remember the story about a New Brunswick woman being forced at gunpoint to drive a man 17 hours to Toronto? I read it first here when news broke out that Marcia Simmons was car-napped and told to drive to Steeles and Don Mills from her home in New Brunswick. In case that link is dead, check it out here.
There was initial shock about how something like this could occur in broad daylight. As more facts surfaced, Simmons recanted her story and admitted to it being false. In case that link is dead, check it out here.
After that came to light, I was astonished at why a person would fake their own abduction and case so many people anguish and despair. When another such story broke the headlines in the past week, I did not even stop to think that the abducted, in this case 22 year old Furqan Muhammad-Haroon, would try to fake his own capture. His “kidnapping” was chronicled by Toronto Star from the beginning to end, which you can find here with links to original Toronto Star articles (or just Google him and read for yourself).
Hours after his alleged abduction, a Facebook group was created to help find him; I joined because I truly felt bad for him and his family to be suffering in such a way during Ramadan. Add to that the expenses his family incurred due to flying back to Toronto from their vacation and the grief in his father’s voice when he pleaded for his son’s return, and I was a goner for this cause. At last check (meaning, when I left the group in disgust) the member count was at over 1,000 people. This morning, the group had disappeared, likely deactivated because of his friends being ashamed at Furqan’s behavior. Unfortunately I did not take any screenshots of the things people were saying on this discussion board about everything that has come to be (the wall was deactivated. Surprise surprise); his Facebook profile is still open for people to see though, so I thought I would nab some pictures before that is locked away as well:
Okay, now let’s step back shall we? I don’t want to judge this man before he’s had a say in court (can’t wait to read about that in a couple hours) because we all know media loves to sensationalize everything. However, this is what I’ve been able to gather so far:
1) He was abducted from a road in Scarborough in broad daylight (so he says), on the day he was supposed to fly out to meet his vacationing family.
2) A group was formed on Facebook asking for his return; this group urged people to email a TorStar reporter with stories about his character but to please refrain from mentioning his financial troubles. This is where I started to get a little uneasy about everything.
3) His parents and brother flew back from their vacation to beg for his return.
4) The public is made aware that Furqan was fired from IBM recently because of theft for under $5,000. His court date was set for mid-September.
(Let’s pause. He’s flying out when he has a court date scheduled? Is that even legal?)
5) Apparently not. The police start to suspect that there was no actual abduction.
6) An anonymous call was made and Furqan Muhammad-Haroon was located in St. Catherines, Ontario safe and alone. He was taken into custody and charged with public mischief. A court date was set for 10am today (August 26).
Assuming what the media is saying is true and the man did fake his own abduction, it begs the question Why? Why put your friends and family through this ordeal? I can almost picture him planning this out, thinking it would be alright. Someone must be truly desperate to hide something like a theft charge from their parents to even begin to think this could work. He is going to lose (or has already lost) the respect of many classmate, friends, and colleagues. What’s worse though is how this will affect his family. The Muslim/Pakistani community is a very tight-knit one that is prone to a lot of gossip. People are always looking for a new scandal to talk about; I can’t imagine what his parents are going through right now knowing that (even if there is some modicum of truth in all this) their family’s name and reputation has been tainted for good.
What bugs me even more than that is how this story will negatively impact all Muslims. No one discussed Marcia Simmons’ religion when her story broke, but people continuously referenced religion in this case, which may have been a huge mistake. Furqan was hailed as a “good Muslim boy” with strong values and morals who would never do anything wrong. Nice. Good morals and values eh? When was it Islamic to steal from their workplace?
Finally, what irritates me the most is how events like those surrounding Marcia Simmons and Furqan Muhammad-Haroon can impact future abductions. When people are actually in trouble, the public may believe that this is simply another hoax by someone. The chances of dedicated support and service to those individuals may be compromised (however unwillingly) by the actions of these people. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.
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