Mansehra assault case echoes in KP Assembly

PESHAWAR: The sexual assault of a minor boy allegedly by a teacher of a religious seminary in Mansehra echoed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday as the members strongly protested the incident leading to the constitution of a parliamentary committee to suggest amendments to relevant laws to ensure severe punishment for offenders.

Nighat Orakzai of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) raised the issue on a point of order, saying the child abuse cases had registered an increase in the province and had caused concern among the parents.

The female members from the treasury and opposition benches supported the mover and demanded severe punishment for the accused. Holding placards inscribed with slogans seeking protection for the children, they gathered in front of the speaker’s dais to register protest over the incident.

The male members from the treasury and opposition supported the demand. The speaker announced the formation of a parliamentary committee to suggest amendments to the laws to introduce stricter punishment for the accused in the child abuse cases.

He asked the members to debate the issue as child protection was a matter of vital importance. Inayatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Awami National Party (ANP)’s Sardar Hussain Babak, Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), ANP’s Laiq Muhammad Khan, JUI-F’s Munawar Khan, Sumera Shams and Babar Salim of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as well as Law Minister Sultan Muhammad Khan supported the demand for severe punishment to the accused in the child abuse cases to discourage the practice.

They condemned the recent incident of sexual assault of the 10-year old boy in Mansehra and said the whole House was concerned over the shameful incident. The law minister informed the House that the accused had been arrested and would be brought to justice.

However, he said the government would welcome the opposition’s suggestions about tougher punishment for the culprits in the child molestation cases. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ghani set a one-month deadline for progress in the rape and murder of a minor girl named Faryal in Abbottabad and ruled that the police should submit the progress report in the House in 30 days.

The speaker in his ruling over a resolution moved by Humera Khatoon of the JUI-F about low pressure and loadshedding of natural gas as well as of electricity in the province, especially in Peshawar, called the general manager of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the chief executive officer of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) to the assembly to brief the members on the situation.

In her resolution that was also signed by members from other political parties, the mover said there was severe loadshedding of gas and housewives find it difficult to prepare food, let alone using a heater to warm room in this chilly weather.

She said the province was the major producer of natural gas but consumers were facing unprecedented low pressure and loadshedding in the supply of gas. The legislator added that electricity loadshedding was also a serious problem in the province. The problems of merged tribal districts were also raised in the House as JUI-F member from South Waziristan Hafiz Assamuddin complained that the internally displaced persons were facing difficulty in receiving the compensation amount.

He said the lists of affectees were not yet available with the local administration. He said despite the release of compensation amount by the government the administration was getting interest on the money and not paying it to the affectees.

Bilawal Afridi of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) complained about lack of facilities and ignoring the tribal districts in development projects. He said government officers were not cooperating with the elected public representatives and tribal districts were lagging behind in development activities. He demanded a special task force on the merged districts.

Nisar Ahmad Mohmand of ANP complained about the underdevelopment of his district, Mohmand. He expressed concern over changing the name of the Mohmand Cadet College and acquiring land for Mohmand Dam at a low rate compared to other parts of the country.

The MPA said a few days back a road roller was stolen from Mohmand but was later recovered and the truck in which it was transported and the driver were identified. However, he complained that the first information report was registered against unidentified accused as the people involved in the theft were influential.

The speaker asked the finance minister to brief the lawmakers from the merged tribal districts and also asked the law minister to advise government officers to properly listen to the grievances of the elected public representatives and make sure their redressal.