Two more cases of child abuse emerge

CM orders setting up of provincial prosecution team

NOWSHERA/ PESHAWAR: Just days after an eight-year-old girl was raped and murdered, police have said that two more cases of child sexual abuse have been reported in the province. Meanwhile, the chief minister has ordered setting up of a provincial prosecution team.

The two new cases of sexual abuse and murder were reported from Nowshera and Battagram districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) while police in Mardan claimed to have arrested a man suspected of allegedly raping a boy.

Nowshera case

Police in Nowshera said that a ten-year-old boy KF* was allegedly sexually assaulted by as many as four people on Wednesday.

Officials at the Mumraiz police station in Nowshera said that per the complaint of the victim’s father, the four suspects allegedly forced the boy into the back of a local utility shop where they proceeded to sexually abuse him.

Officials told The Express Tribune over the phone that a medical report had confirmed the assault after which the case was registered against the four assailants and an investigation into the assault was launched.

Battagram

In Battagram, police said that a tenth grader has been sexually assaulted by unidentified assailants.

Police officials shared that they have registered a case for the attack on the orphan boy but further details surrounding the case have yet to be released.

Prosecution

Meanwhile, police in Mardan on Wednesday said that they have arrested the main accused in the rape of a minor boy in the district.

In a statement, Mardan District Police Officer Sajjad Khan shared that he took notice of the minor being raped within the limits of the Habibullah Colony of the district. Thereafter, he formed a team to apprehend the suspect.

The team raided a suspected hideout of the suspect and apprehended him.

Separately, police in Nowshera have claimed that the two suspects arrested in the rape and murder of eight-year-old Hooz Noor in Nowshera have allegedly admitted to their involvement.

Prosecution team

In a high-level meeting on drafting a child protection bill and to review progress in the rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl in Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Wednesday constituted a provincial prosecution team to work with the police department and the victim’s family to provide them with swift justice.

This was directed as Mahmood chaired a meeting in Peshawar with K-P Law Minister Sultan Muhammad Khan, secretaries of the Home, Social Welfare, and Law departments, Prosecution director-general, Mardan regional police officer, Nowshera DPO, Investigation SP and other officials.

The prosecution team will be headed by the chief minister himself. Further, he directed K-P Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ghani to immediately operationalize the parliamentary child protection special committee to provide recommendations on including severe punishments, along with placing convicted child molesters on a watch list.

This committee will also work on the necessary amendments required in provincial laws and submit a draft within a month and to undertake all necessary measures to this end. The chief minister further directed the committee to include provisions for swift justice.

The meeting was briefed in detail about the progress made in the brutal rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl. It was informed that forensic samples of the victim have been sent to the Punjab Forensic Laboratory and a detailed report is expected within a week to ascertain various aspects of the case. Nowshera DPO told the chief minister that his department is continuously in contact with the victim’s family.

The Chief Minister directed that the aggrieved family must be kept updated regarding the investigation process and that every step should be taken to address their concerns promptly.

He said immediate measures should be taken for the establishment of a forensic laboratory so that investigation of such cases can be completed swiftly within the province.

*NAMES WITHHELD TO PROTECT IDENTITY 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2020.