In a faltering plea to the television cameras, Louise Campbell recalled how the chatty tomboy loved collecting sea shells and cycling around her new house in the Hebrides.

Four days after Molly, aged 12, was allegedly abducted and taken to Pakistan by her estranged father amid speculation about a possible forced marriage to a 25-year-old man, Mrs Campbell appealed for the return of her “loveable, outgoing little girl”.

Molly, who is also known as Misbah Iram Ahmed Rana and speaks Urdu, vanished outside her school in Stornoway in the Hebridean island of Lewis on Friday. It is understood that she met her older sister at the school mid-morning before taking a taxi with her to Stornoway airport and flying to Glasgow International Airport.

There, the two sisters met their father, Sajad Ahmed Rana. By the time she was reported missing, when she failed to return home on the school bus at 4.30pm, Molly was already on a flight to Lahore, Pakistan.

The city’s Allama Iqbal international airport confirmed that Mr Rana had arrived with his daughters on Saturday. Police believe that Mr Rana had a passport for Molly, but it is not yet known whether she went willingly.

Ms Campbell, who is believed to have moved around Scotland to evade her estranged husband, begged him to bring Molly home. Louise Campbell, 38, described the “huge gap” caused by her daughter’s disappearance as the international hunt continued.

She said that her daughter’s disappearance was “completely out of the blue” as Molly had seemed happy in her new island home.

“I would like to say to Molly that we miss her so much and we beg her to come home to us. She has to know she is not in any trouble and we are not angry, we just want her home,” Ms Campbell said.

“I miss the fun and laughs we used to have. We are saving up all her pocket money for her so she can spend it in town when she gets back.

“We would appeal to Molly’s father, sister and family to make sure she returns to us as her absence has left a huge gap in our lives. We are finding it very difficult to come to terms with what has happened.”

She added that Molly was quite tomboyish, very chatty and made friends easily. She loved cycling around Lewis, where she moved to nine months ago, and collecting shells on the beach.

“The children [at school] used to ask why she smiled all the time, but that is just the way she is. She loves cuddles and is a very warm child. Molly is a very chatty girl and getting her to go to bed was difficult as she would always want to talk away at bedtimes,” she said.

However, it appears that Molly did keep some secrets. It emerged that, unknown to her mother, Molly had met her father on Thursday at a hotel in Stornoway. He had also secretly visited the island in April, although it is not thought that he met Molly at that time.

Police also now believe that Molly’s meeting with her married older sister, Tahmina, 18, at her school on Friday morning was probably prearranged.

Police disclosed that a child, whom they believe to have been Molly, rang Stornoway police station and was encouraged to ring home. She did. However, officers refused to outline the contents of the conversation, which took place on Saturday afternoon, the day after she vanished. Ms Campbell, originally from Glasgow, moved with Molly from Stranraer last November, and set up home in Tong, outside Stornoway, with her partner, Kenny Campbell. She gave birth eight weeks ago to another daughter, Rachel.

Molly’s mother is not known to have any connection with the island, and adopted the surname of Mr Campbell, who is believed to be English.

Molly’s parents married in a Muslim ceremony in 1984 in Glasgow and had four children, Omar, 20, Tahmina, Adam and Molly.

Violet Robertson, 67, their grandmother, said that when the marriage broke down, the children lived with their father, who ran market stalls and owned property in Scotland.

When he decided to move to Pakistan, they all went with him, but eventually returned to live with their mother in Scotland.

However, Mr Rana wanted his children back and last year Adam and Tahmina went to live with him. Omar married and moved to London. Molly was given residence with her mother.

Mrs Robertson claimed that her daughter had been trying to escape from her ex-husband for some time. She alleged that he had made a previous attempt to take Molly to Pakistan for a forced marriage.

But Chief Inspector Murdo Fraser, Area Commander in the Western Isles, said that he was unaware of any previous abduction attempts, and refused to speculate on reports of a forced marriage.

He confirmed that all avenues were being pursued by police, Interpol, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the courts in an effort to reunite Molly with her mother.

“Our priorities are Molly’s welfare at this moment. That is our immediate concern. We are looking for some reassurance about her well being and safety,” he said.

“My appeal is to Molly’s extended family in the UK and Pakistan to get in touch with us to give some reassurance about her circumstances.” He said that until police were able to speak at length directly to Molly, he would be unable to confirm whether she went to Pakistan of her own free will. “I stress that we are dealing with a possible abduction.”

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said that it was offering consular assistance.

Although Pakistan has not signed the Hague Convention on returning abducted children, the Anglo-Pakistan Protocol, agreed in 2003, serves a similar purpose. Under Pakistani laws a girl cannot marry until she is 16. However, under Muslim law a minor can enter into a marriage contract through a guardian, a move that the child can repudiate before the age of 18.

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