Woman abducted, raped at gunpoint in Rahim Yar Khan

Victim managed to escape from culprits and reached the police station

RAHIM YAR KHAN: A woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by two men in Rahim Yar Khan on Sunday.

An official from Ahmedpur Lamah police station told Express News that accused Asghar Ali and Sanaullah allegedly abducted P* from Chak No 24-NP and took her to an undisclosed location. He added that the culprits allegedly raped her at gunpoint.



However, he said the victim managed to escape from their custody and reached the police station. Police shifted the victim to the hospital for treatment and medical tests.

Police registered a case against the suspects on the complaint of the victim. Later, the police conducted raids to nab the accused.

Earlier, a boy was allegedly subjected to sexual assault in Rahim Yar Khan’s Moza Khokran area.

Victim’s father, J* submitted a complaint at the police station in which he accused Ahmed Shahzad of assaulting his 10-year-old son S* in the fields. He said that when his son raised a hue and cry, locals reached the spot and found him naked and in a semiconscious state.

A report compiled by NGO Sahil revealed that in 2017, an average of more than nine children were subjected to sexual violence nationwide on a daily basis.

The report paints a distressing portrait of the situation. Statistics presented in the document showed child sexual abuse continued to persist, thus rubbishing government claims of better child protection standards.

Cases reported in 91 newspapers were collected which revealed that 3,445 children had been subjected to sexual violence across the nation in 2017. This represents an annual decrease of 694 cases, the report read.



The number of murders following child abduction and sexual abuse surged over the year, according to the report. Reported incidents recorded a more than 100% rise, increasing from seven in 2016 to 15 in 2017, the document shows.

Girls formed an overwhelming majority of child sexual abuse victims at 60%. The document also revealed that children between 6 to 10 and 11 to 15 years of age were the most vulnerable to sexual abuse.

 

*Name changed to protect identity

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2018.