Daily Times

Within two weeks of an anti-terrorism court pronouncing the death sentence on three counts to the rapist and killer of the Chunian children, another horrific incident of child rape has surfaced in Mansehra, where the police have sealed a seminary in Thakra Parhana area and arrested four people. Of them, the main accused, stated to be a seminary teacher, is at large. The victim, an eight-year-old boy, is fighting for his life in Ayub Medical Complex in Abbotabad. The gory details of the rape have triggered a wave of shock and anger among the people, especially the parents of small children, across the country. The Mansehra incident points to the prevalence of heinous crimes against minor children. Despite handing down death sentences to the convict of first Zainab Ansari case, and now the Chunian case, there has been no letup in such crimes against children. After the massive coverage of such incidents, parents stop children from playing on streets. Recently, the Peshawar police took a measure to make the credentials of convicts of sex crimes public so they remain socially isolated once out of jail. The police were forced to take the step after a hike in crime against children across the province. In many cases, pedophiles were rearrested and convicted within months of their release. The Chunian case convict was first arrested and convicted of child molestation back in 2011.

Crime against children should be taken very seriously by the government, civil society and every parent. According to a report by Sahil, child abuse cases went up by 11 per cent in 2018 compared to 2017. The data was taken from newspapers, which report just a fraction of the total number of incidents. The media does not reflect the real magnitude of the situation. The 2018 report mentioned 3,832 cases of child abuse. According to the report, girls ages under-five and 16-18 are more vulnerable, while boys ages 6-15 become the target of pedophiles. Earlier, the Human Rights Ministery revealed an ugly fact Pakistan was becoming the hub of child pornography. The ministry has launched a Child Protection Campaign to raise awareness about pornography at school level. Other than naming and shaming, the government needs to expedite work on the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Bill 2019, which aims at the recovery and rescue of lost children and punishment for kidnappers, pedophiles and murderers. Parents and schools should inculcate confidence among children on how to interact with strangers and on how to react when encountered with an acquaintance committing inappropriate moves. *