Pakistani teacher arrested for raping two minor boys in Muzaffargarh

Muzaffargarh (Pakistan): Police have arrested a seminary teacher for allegedly raping his two underage students and threatening them with dire consequences if they disclosed the assault, Dawn reported.

According to Daira Din Pannah police, the complainant Jalal Din stated in his application that his son and a nephew aged between 10 and 12 years were studying at Madressah Yaseen in Chak No. 143/ML for the past few months.

He added that boys had told him that their teacher had raped them in the seminary and threatened them with torture if they told anyone about the incident.

Based on the complaint, the police filed charges against the suspect under Section 376-iii, 377-B.

Police added that they arrested the suspect and the boys were taken to the hospital for medical examination, according to Dawn’s report.

In Pakistan, a staggering 4,213 cases of child abuse were reported in 2023, with an average of 11 children falling victim to abuse every day, according to the alarming report ‘Cruel Numbers 2023’, published by non-profit organisation Sahil in collaboration with the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

The comprehensive report addresses various forms of child abuse, including sexual abuse, abduction, missing children and child marriage.

The breakdown by gender shows that of the total reported cases, 53 percent of the victims were girls and 47 percent were boys.

Children between the ages of 6 and 15 were particularly at risk, with more boys than girls being victims in this age group. Shockingly, even children aged 0 to 5 were victims of sexual abuse, Geo News reported.

The report elaborates on the categorization of perpetrators and highlights that acquaintances remain the main perpetrators of child sexual abuse, followed by relatives, family members, strangers and female accomplices. Geographically, Punjab reported the highest number of cases, accounting for 75 percent of the total, followed by Sindh with 13 percent, Islamabad with 7 percent, KP with 3 percent and Balochistan, PoK and GB together with 2 percent.

The report titled ‘Cruel Numbers 2023’ revealed that 91 percent of all reported cases were registered with the police, indicating an active role of law enforcement agencies in combating the problem. Of the reported cases, 2,021 specifically involved child sexual abuse, with an even distribution between genders. Shockingly, 61 cases of murder following sexual abuse were reported, 1,833 cases of abduction, 330 cases of missing children and 29 cases of child marriage, with 27 cases involving girls and 2 boys, according to Geo News.

In addition to cases of abuse, the NGOs also observed incidents in which children up to the age of 18 were injured or died. Of the 2,184 cases observed, most of these were drownings (694), accidents (401), murder (286), torture (121), injuries (111), suicide (110) and deaths from electric shocks (103).

The NGO also prepared ‘Cruel Numbers 2023’ by monitoring 81 national and regional newspapers daily with the aim of presenting comprehensive data on the situation of violence against children and expanding the existing information on child sexual abuse in Pakistan. The report also aims to raise awareness and disseminate information about various forms of child sexual abuse in all sections of society, Geo News reported.