4-year-old girl allegedly raped in Karachi's Essa Nagri

• 4-year-old girl allegedly raped in Karachi's Essa Nagri neighbourhood.
• Police say the incident took place when the child went for after-school tuitions to a nearby house. 
• Area residents told police the crime was allegedly committed by the female tuition teacher's brother; The suspect has been arrested, police said.

A 4-year-old girl has been allegedly raped in Karachi's Essa Nagri neighbourhood, police said Tuesday. 

According to a first information report (FIR) registered regarding the case, the four-year-old girl used to go to a nearby house for after-school tuitions where the incident took place. 

Area residents told police that the female tuition teacher's brother allegedly committed the heinous crime. A protest was also staged by people of the neighbourhood, demanding authorities to take action against the culprit. 

Police said it reached the site of the crime and has taken the suspect into custody, adding that the alleged victim is with her family at the moment. 

An investigation into the matter is currently underway.

Increasing number of rape cases 

Statistics from 2020 have revealed that at least 11 rape incidents were reported in Pakistan every day with over 22,000 cases reported to police across the country in the last six years.

However, only 77 accused have been convicted which comprise 0.3% of the total figure.

These statistics were obtained from the Police, Law, and Justice Commission of Pakistan, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Women's Foundation, and provincial welfare agencies.

According to a Geo News investigation, only 41% of rape cases are reported to the police due to social pressures and loopholes in the law and order system.

Since 2015, a total of 22,037 cases of abuse have been registered, 4,060 cases are pending in the courts, of which 77 offenders have been convicted and only 18% of cases have reached the prosecution stage.

Police officials noted that only half of the rape cases are registered and the actual number of rape cases in the last five years could be as high as 60,000.

In addition, out of the total reported cases, 2,727 challans — or just 12% of the total cases — were filed in the courts, while a decision was given in 1,274, or 5% of them, with 1,192 accused acquitted.

According to official data, 18,609 rape cases were registered in Punjab during the last six years, 1,873 in Sindh, 1,183 in KP, 129 in Balochistan, 210 in Islamabad.

Thirty-one cases were registered in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in which no accused was convicted.