Follow up: Three acquitted in Kasur sexual abuse case

LAHORE:

An anti-terrorism court on Friday acquitted three people nominated in Kasur sexual abuse case over lack of evidence of their involvement in the matter.

Arshad, Ashfaq and Ibrahim had submitted through their counsel that the allegations raised against them were false. They had said that their names were added to the FIR to establish police’s performance only. Earlier, one of the complainants, Muhammad Azeem, had retracted his statements and said that he was living in Lahore for four years.

Initial media reports had said that at least 280 children were sexually abused in Kasur. A joint investigation team formed to probe the incident later interviewed over 400 witnesses and found that evidence in 19 sodomy cases was credible. The JIT found that 47 video clips and 72 photos presented as evidence were four to five years old. In its report, it said that there was a gang that worked together to produce the material but there was no evidence that it was uploaded to the internet or used to extort money from the victims. The JIT has also found a linkage of the sexual abuse incidents and a land dispute.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2016.