'Influential' Sargodha men who molested, filmed minors on gunpoint arrested

SARGODHA: Local authorities on Wednesday filed a first information report (FIR) after obtaining videos of horrific child sexual abuse that were making rounds on social media and Internet-based text message services, Geo News reported.

Law enforcement officials said the alleged paedophiles forced underage boys to engage in inappropriate sexual activities while holding them at gunpoint, filmed them in the process, and uploaded the captured footages to social media.

Further, the alleged abusers blackmailed the minors and their families following the despicable act of recording them.

While the survivors and their families have chosen to not come forward with the matter due to fear of "repercussions" from the "influential suspects", police said they had managed to arrest six suspects and filed an FIR against them.

Officers at the Jhal Chakian police station said they had arrested six suspects — including Zuhair, Amir, Jehangir, Tanweer, and Rehmat Khan, and all residents of village Lak Mor — and filed the FIR.

An initial investigation report revealed that the arrested suspects were found in possession of videos of 13 underage boys.

On the other hand, landlord Muhammad Suleiman, who is also the petitioner, has appealed to the authorities to provide protection.

The survivors and each of their parents have recorded their statements with the police on a condition of anonymity after being assured that protection would be provided to them.

Even so, Suleiman, the petitioner, stressed that neither the survivors nor their family members could publicly name or identify their abusers owing to fear of significant repercussions.

Suleiman also explained that he witnessed compact discs (CDs) of "inappropriate video content" — that featured footage of underage kids being sexually abused — being prepared at a phone shop in the village and the videos uploaded to social media.

Police said an investigation was launched into the said cases of child sexual molestation after the FIR was registered, but that they would be probing further.

According to another source, the District Police Officer (DPO) for Sargodha has set up a joint investigation team (JIT), which has also promptly commenced its own investigation.

Further, although the survivors and their families have refused to publicly register a case against the "influential suspects", the scope of the investigation has been widened given their recorded statements.

What now remains is the question as to how long will the case be able to continue against these "influential suspects", who, more often than not, are acquitted, enter out-of-court settlements or their cases dragged or dropped altogether.