‘Serial rapist’ arrested in Pattoki
An alleged serial rapist who sexually assaulted six minor girls in Sarai Mughal area of Pattoki has been arrested by the police.
A case had been registered against the accused under various provisions.
Police said that the accused used to lure the girls in various ways. The victims were between 10 and 12 years of age and he had been arrested on the identification of the victims.
Further investigation was underway while the DNA test of the arrested man was also being conducted.
The Kasur DPO had suspended Sarai Mughal police station SHO for not taking timely action in the case. The action was taken as the man who raped six girls in different incidents during the past month could not be arrested despite being spotted in CCTV footage. The parents of the victims and local people protested against the police by blocking a road, after which the suspect was arrested. Incidents of sexual violence against minors have been rampant across the province.
A report by Sahil, a non-governmental organisation, revealed that at least eight children fell victim to sexual abuse daily on average in the country.
On December 7, a teenage boy was gang raped by three men after he was made to drink a bottle of intoxicant beverage.
On November 21, a seven-year-old girl’s body was dumped after her rape in Baghbanpura. A day earlier, a case of gang rape of a minor was reported in the same area. Two suspects identified as Mubashir and Sheraz were booked in the case.
On November 19, a case of sexual assault on an eight-year-old boy was reported in Faisalabad. On November 11, a girl was sexually assaulted in Noshera Virkan. On November 8, a student was murdered after sexual assault in Mandi Bahauddin.
The son of Arshad Abdul Majeed and resident of the Allama Iqbal Colony area, in the jurisdiction of D-Type Colony police station, went to a shop on June 5 and went missing.
The family of the missing child approached the police station. SHO Muhammad Tash registered a case against unidentified kidnappers under Section 363 and started an investigation to trace them. Passers-by saw the body and informed Dijkot police, who took it into their custody and later handed it over to D-Type Colony police.
A number of rape cases have also been reported from other parts of the province during recent weeks.
In the first half of the current year, at least 1,489 children were subjected to sexual assault.
(THE VICTIMS’ IDENTITIES HAVE NOT BEEN DISCLOSED AS A MATTER OF POLICY)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2020.