Another case of child sexual abuse surfaces in Karachi

Another case of child sexual abuse was reported on Saturday from Jinnah Bagh where a milk shop owner allegedly subjected a 10-year-old boy to sexual assault.

The Napier police station’s SHO Azam Khan said a woman had arrived at the station on Friday and requested the police to register a case against a milk shop owner for subjecting her son to sexual assault.

SHO Khan said the complainant told the police that her husband had died a few years ago and that she sent her son to a madrasa.

He said the boy told his mother that a milk shop owner in their locality, identified only as Tanveer, had subjected him to sexual assault on January 8, adding that the police registered a case, arrested the suspect and handed over the case to the investigation branch.

Station Investigation Officer (SIO) Zahid Hussain Shah told The News that the child and the suspect were sent to the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi for medical examinations.

He said the accused was produced before the South judicial magistrate on Saturday, adding that the court had remanded him to police custody for two days.

SIO Shah said the suspect was denying the charge of sexual abuse, adding that the police would be better able to draw their conclusions after receiving the reports of the medical examinations.

Minor boy returns home

A 10-year-old boy who had gone missing on Friday afternoon returned home on Saturday morning. The Arambagh police station’s SHO Asif Rauf said the father of the missing boy had lodged a missing complaint at the station.

SHO Rauf said the police registered the report and started searching for the missing boy. When the police failed to trace him, his family, other relatives and neighbours staged a protest demonstration.

The protesters torched tyres on Burns Road and blocked it for all vehicular traffic. They also chanted slogans against the police and demanded that the higher-ups take steps to ensure the safe return of the minor. However, the boy safely returned home by himself.

The Saddar Division’s SP Tauqeer Muhammad Naeem told The News that the boy, in his statement to the police, said a bearded man had lured him into going away with him, adding that the two went to a graveyard where they offered Fateha.

According to the boy, on their return from the graveyard, they ate Nihari, and at the end of the day they went to the Alam Shah Bukhari shrine, where they spent a few hours and then slept on the footpath.

SP Naeem said the boy had told the police that he woke up in the morning and returned home after hailing a taxi. He said the boy’s father had refused to get his son examined to ascertain if he was abused, adding that the minor’s mother was out of the country for Umrah.