Man arrested for sexually abusing his 11-year-old niece in Punjab (Pakistan)

A man was arrested for allegedly attempting to rape his 11-year-old niece in Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin district, police said on Sunday.

According to the first information report (FIR) of the incident filed on behalf of the victim’s aunt, a copy of which is available from Dawn.comThe suspect had taken the victim to his home. When her aunt sent someone to look for the child in the suspect’s apartment, they heard her screams.

“The suspect was caught trying to sexually abuse the child but fled as soon as he saw someone coming,” the FIR continued.

When District Police Officer Ahmad Mohiuddin received information about the incident, he took notice and ordered to book the suspect for attempting to rape the young girl and directed Deputy Commissioner of Police Malikwal Circle to submit a report.

Responding to the complaint, DSP Malikwal Ghulam Jafar deployed police task forces and set up roadblocks across the area. The police team managed to arrest the suspect.

According to police sources, the victim identified the suspect. Her initial medical report from a government hospital also showed signs of attempted sexual assault.

Police said further investigations were ongoing.

Earlier this month, two men were arrested in Mandi Bahauddin for allegedly sexually abusing a disabled minor boy, filming him and uploading a video of the assault on social media, police said.

Despite strict laws against rape, which can carry the death penalty or a prison sentence of ten to twenty-five years, cases of sexual harassment continue to occur throughout the country.

Data collected by the non-governmental organization Sahil shows that eleven children were abused every day in 2023. Most of the time, acquaintances and relatives were involved in the heinous act.

The statistics were published in “Cruel Numbers 2023,” a publication by the NGO that works for the welfare of children and was released in late February with the support of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

Geographical segregation statistics show that of the total 4,213 cases reported, 75 percent were reported from Punjab, 13 percent from Sindh, 7 percent from Islamabad Capital Territory, three percent from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and two percent from Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).