'Child abuse cases rose in K-P during 2019'

252 incidents of molestation registered in Abbottabad last year

ISLAMABAD: The incidents of child abuse increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the year 2019, the Senate Special Committee on Child Protection meeting was told on Monday.

Chaired by Senator Rubina Khalid, the meeting was attended by senators, senior police officers and other concerned officials at Parliament House.

The committee chairperson called for taking the Council of Islamic Ideology on board while formulating the laws on child abuse.
She said that in most cases, a child who had been subjected to sexual abuse died after which the local residents and police try to hide the incident.

She observed a deal was then struck after subsidizing the poor parents of deceased child.

Senator Javed Abbasi replied that family of the sufferer usually remained silent to save their dignity.

The committee was told that in 80% of child abuse cases, teachers, relatives and other close associates were normally involved.

Senate panel calls for mass awareness on child abuse

Senator Javed Abbasi suggested reviewing the current laws on child protection and proposed preparing a comprehensive report on the subject and submitting it to senate.

Senator Samina Saeed maintained that the cases of child molestation would not see a reduction until those involved in the heinous activity were subjected to severe punishment.

Senator Rana Maqbool sought for preparing a timeline and recommended strict action against the culprits.

While briefing the committee on Mansehra incident, DIG Abbottabad said that the accused had been arrested and the seminary where the occurrence happened had been closed.

Mansehra police on Friday confirmed that the DNA sample obtained from a seminary teacher matched with the sample obtained from a 10-year-old student, who was allegedly raped around a month ago.

The DIG said that the accused was a paid school teacher who also offered his services as a cleric at a local seminary.

The committee was informed that the child was not only sexually abused but was also tortured to death and that JUI-F leader Mufti Kifayatullah had been supporting the accused in the case.

The DIG said that 252 cases of child abuse had been registered alone in Abbottabad during the last year.

The panel was told that 3,832 cases of child abuse were registered in the country during 2018 of which 2,403 cases were registered in Punjab, 1,016 in Sindh, 143 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 98 in Balochistan, 130 in Islamabad, 34 in AJK and 60 cases in Gilgit-Baltistan.