Man held for attempted sexual assault of minor in Kasur
The incident occurs in Baghel Singh village in tehsil Kot Radha Kishan, when a local shopkeeper attempted to sexually assault an eight-year-old girl
January 28, 2018
KASUR: Police arrested a man accused of attempting to sexually assault a minor girl in Kot Radha Kishan tehsil of Kasur on Sunday.
The incident took place in Baghel Singh village on the outskirts of tehsil Kot Radha Kishan, where locals alleged that a shopkeeper attempted to sexually assault an eight-year-old girl.
The villagers claimed that the accused got scared and let the minor girl go when she started shouting.
They took hold of the suspect and subsequently beat him up before handing him over to the police.
The residents of the village accused the police of trying to help the suspect go into hiding on the orders of local member of the National Assembly (MNA).
At which, raged individuals attacked the police vehicle and tortured policemen.
The law enforcers, however, whisked the injured suspect to police station.
According to protesters, district police officer (DPO) Kasur has suspended two policemen.
On the other hand, local MNA Salman Hanif said that he had nothing to do with the matter. "We were told [by the protesters] that 'police were taking the suspect back to his home, due to which we blocked the road'. This is the matter; rest we do not know what has been going on there."
Taking notice of the incident, Inspector General (IG) Punjab Arif Nawaz has sought a report from DPO Kasur.
The incident comes amid a countrywide outpour of anger over brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, Zainab, in Kasur.
Zainab was kidnapped on January 4 in Kasur and found five days later from a garbage pile. The post-mortem revealed Zainab had been raped and murdered.
Later, the authorities succeeded in nabbing the suspect, Imran, said to be a serial killer involved in several similar cases in Kasur.
With the suspect arrested after days of efforts, the father of the victim Sunday demanded legislation to allow the suspect's public hanging.
Amin Ansari, Zainab's father, said, "If the Parliament can make laws to allow a disqualified person to head a political party, why can't it do this."
The remarks were made during hearing of the Zainab rape and murder suo motu case by the Supreme Court of Pakistan at its Lahore Registry.
The court also barred Zainab's father and his counsel from speaking to the media.
As many as 11 cases of child sexual abuse are reported from across Pakistan every day, according to data compiled by a non-governmental organization, Sahil, which works on child protection.
In the first six months of 2017 alone, 1,764 cases of child sexual abuse were reported from across the country, according to Sahil.
In 2016, the total number of reported child abuse cases stood at a staggering 4,139, bringing the total number of children being abused in Pakistan per day to 11.
The shocking numbers bring to attention the failure of law enforcement agencies in Pakistan, particularly Punjab province, in apprehending criminals and curbing the menace of child sexual abuse.
