Child rape: Three-year-old assaulted by madrassa teacher

The accused has been arrested after medical reports confirmed rape.

PESHAWAR:

The police have arrested a madrassa teacher on charges of sexual assaulting a three-year-old boy in the Kakshal area of Peshawar on Saturday.

A police official of the Yakatut Police Station told The Express Tribune that accused Gul Zaman, a resident of the Orakzai Agency, was arrested after the assault victim’s father Shahbaz Khan reported the incident late on Friday.

The official said that the Zaman was teaching at Masjid Ameer Mowia in the Qureysh Abad locality of the Kashkal area. He added that Zaman had also confessed to the crime.

The police official revealed that a case has been registered against the accused and medical reports have also confirmed rape. The father of the victim told The Express Tribune that he took his son to the doctor after his family told him about his son’s condition.

Khan, who has three sons, said that all his children go to the same mosque for religious education in the evening, where the accused was their teacher.

He said that police arrested the accused upon the doctor’s report and also detained two other people, including one of Zaman’s guests.

However, local police only confirmed the arrest of Zaman and said that the  two others were picked up on suspicion but were released following initial investigations.

Society for the Protection of Rights of Children (SPARC) Provincial Chief Jahanzeb Khan told The Express Tribune that the provincial assembly had last year passed the Child Protection Act and there is also a Child Protection Committee in the province.

He added that it was now the responsibility of the authorities to proceed with the case.

“The authorities should enforce the law to protect children from such assaults,” Jahanzeb said.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2011.