11-year-old boy raped in Paharipura

Accused is few years older than victim; they worked together in workshop

PESHAWAR: A boy was raped within the jurisdiction of Paharipura police station on Wednesday.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, Faqirabad ASP Wasim Riaz said the rape survivor was 11-year-old and was a resident of Yousafabad.

He added the father of the victim approached the police and registered an FIR against the incident. The accused is a few years older than the 11-year-old.





“Both the victim and the accused worked together in a workshop,” the ASP said, “The child was raped at the workshop. After registering an FIR, the police raided the house of the accused and arrested him.”

He said an FIR was registered against the accused and the child was sent for medical examination.

Cycle of ignorance

While commenting on the incident, a child rights activist, Arshad Mahmood, told The Express Tribune the society as a whole has ignored child sexual abuse cases. “In order to address a problem, you have to admit that the problem exists,” he said. “However, as a society, we have failed to consider [child sexual abuse] an issue.”

He added it was important to adopt preventive measures against such matters.



“Punishment is also necessary but you have to understand that after such a tragedy, a child changes completely for the rest of his life,” Mahmood said. “Punishing the culprits cannot make the child forget what has happened to him.”

Imran Takkar, another child rights activist, said child sexual abuse was a real threat in Pakistan. “It is unfortunate that there is no organisation working on child rights in K-P,” he said. “We need more such organisations here.” He added the PTI-led government had failed to play its due role in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2016.