Three-member committee to probe Swat Child Abuse scandal

SWAT: Ringleader of a gang which kidnapped and used children for pornographic videos was remanded for two-days in police custody by a local court on Thursday.

Moreover, a three-member committee has also been formed to probe the issue.

 Earlier, police arrested ringleader of a gang and his three accomplices who were involved in kidnapping and rape of minors.

The arrests were made when police raided Nawa Kali area and arrested ringleader Aurangzeb and three others. The suspect confessed to sexual abuse of 17 children, police said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mingora Siddiq Akbar said that a 14-year-old child was also rescued during the operation.

Residents of the area said they were unaware of the gang's presence in the neighbourhood.

The scandal was first reported when a victim tipped off the police. Rights activists and civil society created uproar and demanded justice for the victims.

This is not the first time a child sexual abuse ring has been reported.

A mega scandal of child sex abuse unearthed in August 2015 brought shame to the country at the international level. Media reports revealed about a gang of organised criminals producing and selling illicit videos of child sexual abuse in Husain Khanwala area of Kasur in Punjab for the last many years.

It was termed the biggest scandal of such nature in the country’s history revealing that around 400 videos were made of 280 minor victims by an organised gang of over 25 criminals. Parents of minors were consistently blackmailed and coerced into paying hundreds of thousands of rupees with threats of making the videos public.