Five-year-old gang-raped in Peshawar

The child was overpowered by the three suspects and he was injured as he struggled to run away, Police officer says

PESHAWAR: A five-year-old boy has been allegedly gang-raped by three teenaged students of a seminary in the Mattani area of the city.

Police say they have registered a case but it was not immediately clear if they had arrested the culprits. A local resident said that the five-year-old boy was near his house in the Gulshanabad area when three seminary students forced him into the nearby seminary where they gang-raped him.



“The child is a resident of Darra Adam Khel but the family has been living in the Mattani area,” the local said, adding that the incident took place around a week ago. He further claimed that the police, despite being informed of the crime, were reluctant to register an FIR.

“All three suspects are locals and residents of Adezai area within the remits of the same police station,” he said. Police, however, say they have lodged an FIR in the case and have sent the child for a medical examination in line with set procedure.

“The poor child was overpowered by the three suspects and he was injured as he struggled to run away,” the police officer said. Police added that all three in the case were also juveniles.



Talking to The Express Tribune, rights activist Taimur Kamal said that it was unfortunate that despite all efforts by the civil society and an increase in child abuse cases, there was no proper child protection mechanism in place in Peshawar. Another right activist Imran Takkar said that children were the future of the nation and they should be protected at all cost from such situations and it was possible only if proper awareness is created and a mechanism is evolved.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2018.