Shopkeeper allegedly assaults 14-year-old girl

M* went to accused’s shop to buy things but did not return home

FAISALABAD:  

A 14-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted in Faisalabad on Wednesday.

The police said that victim’s brother-in-law A* lodged a complaint at the police station. He he stated that M* went to a shop to buy things, but did not return home. He added that he and other family members went looking for the girl after some time.

He stated that during the search, one of the locals told them that he saw the girl going to the shop of Shahbaz at Sheranwala Chowk. He mentioned that they immediately rushed to the accused’s shop and saw the culprit allegedly sexually abusing her.

He said despite their efforts to catch the culprit, he fled the spot. A* demanded that police arrest the culprit and punish him sternly for committing such a heinous act.

The police registered a case against the accused and started an investigation.

Earlier, an eight-year-old madrassa student was sexually abused by two influential men in Rahim Yar Khan’s Shedani Sharif area.

The police said that the boy, a resident of Fazalabad, was on his way to the madrassa when Sohail and Naeem abducted him and took him to a campsite. The accused allegedly sexually assaulted the victim and fled the scene after committing the offence.

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. The document also revealed that children between 6 to 10 and 11 to 15 years of age were the most vulnerable to sexual abuse.

*Names withheld to protect identity