Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The failure of authorities concerned to take action against the accused involved in child abuse cases in Kasur has resulted into another remorseful incident in which a minor girl was allegedly raped and murdered, said a senior official of the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR).

Talking to Daily Times, the NCHR official, who wished not to be named, said that the commission had constituted a three-member fact finding committee, comprising Kishwar Shaheen Awan from the Punjab government, Muhammad Shafique from the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and Ishaq Masih Naz as member minorities, to probe child abuse cases reported between 2015 to 2017 in Kasur.

In its findings, a copy of which is available with Daily Times, the committee had given a series of observation and recommendations.

During the course of probe, the committee observed that recommended free legal-aid were not provided to the victims, while seven out of 16 accused arrested were acquitted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC), including the two accused who were sentenced by the ATC last year.

The commission observed that accused were acquitted due to the lack of coordination between the Kasur district public prosecutor and the prosecutor of ATA courts.

“The accountability for negligence on part of officials concerned both at the prosecution and police departments was not carried out,” the committee observed.

Despite the fact that the district administration had taken some steps to sensitise all walks of community to child rights and child protection by holding seminars, training sessions, walks and awareness programmes, the committee in its report said that there was a deep mistrust on district authorities, as criminals remain undetected.

In the light of the committee observations, the NCHR had recommended the Punjab Prosecutor General Office to take personal interest in the aforementioned matter by ordering an inquiry into the reasons of the acquittals in said cases. It also recommended to addressing the reasons of poor coordination between district prosecution services and ATC prosecution services.

The NCHR had further asked the chief minister and Kasur district Administration to make pro-bono legal aid available to the victims, as the commission observed that one of the main reasons for these cases was poor financial condition of the victims and their families.

The commission had also recommended the psycho-social treatment and counseling of the victims and their families on regular basis by the office of the Kasur DCO.

The NCHR asked that the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, government of Punjab to provide their relevant services for rescue, psychological counseling and to open a child protection institution in the Kasur. Besides, it directed that the investigation should be held to check if the accusations made by members of community of political involvement and a land dispute influencing the cases are correct.

The sources in the NCHR said that the implementation of recommendations by the committee was an excellent tool to stop such kind of happenings in the country.

In an official statement, NCHR Chairman Ali Nawaz Chohan strongly condemned the gruesome incident in Kasur.

Published in Daily Times, January 11^th 2018.