Deepening scandal: Two more child abuse cases surface in Punjab

Medical board physically examines eight child abuse victims in Kasur

FAISALABAD/ LAHORE:

Another two cases of child abuse surfaced in Chiniot and Jhang districts  barely a day after similar cases were registered in Multan, echoing some of the pain and shame of the  child porn scandal of Kasur.

In the first incident, accused Kashif and his accomplices Sohail Ahmad, Muhammad Kashif, Imtiaz Ahmad, Ejaz Ahmad and Faisal allegedly abused a 13-year-old boy after giving him a drug.

They also videotaped their crime and threatened the victim’s father that they would release the clips on the social media if he went to police. However, when the clips were leaked on the Facebook, the boy’s father lodged a complaint at the Chenab Nagar police station under section 377 of Pakistan Penal Code.

A police official, SHO Nausher Ahmad, told The Express Tribune that acting on the FIR, the police arrested all the accused who were presented before the area magistrate on Saturday.

“The police have secured their seven-day physical remand,” he said, adding that clips and other phonographs of the victim were also recovered from the accused.

In the second incident, which took place in the area of Kot Shakir police station at Rodu Sultan, two men allegedly abused a 15-year-old boy and captured the video of their crime in mobile camera.

Kot Shakir’s SHO Aftab Aalam Shah said the incident had taken place three days ago and both the parties had arrived at a compromise.

“However, the police registered a case against the accused, Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Imran, after video clips of the victim went viral,” he said, adding that police had constituted a special team to arrest the accused.

Team examines Kasur victims

A three-member medical board on Saturday physically examined eight child abuse victims from Kasur’s Hussain Khan Wala village. The victims, including a girl, had lodged FIRs two days ago.

Later talking to the press, the board’s head Dr Muhammad Javed said no concrete evidence of sexual abuse could be found from initial examination as the incidents are more than a year old.

“However, the DNA samples of the victims have been sent to Punjab Forensic Science Agency and their results are likely to arrive in two weeks after which there is a possibility that some evidence of sexual assault on the victims might surface,” he said.

Police sources told The Express Tribune that a total of 115 people – both from the victims’ and the accused parties – are scheduled to get their statements recorded before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed on the orders of Punjab chief minister to probe the scandal.

“Meanwhile, the JIT –headed by DIG Abubakar Khudabakhsh –recorded statements of 25 people from the village on Saturday. The persons, who got their statements recorded, include seven complainants as well,” said one of the sources.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2015.