577 cases of child sexual abuse reported in six months in Punjab

Islamabad
According to police data, 577 cases of child sexual abuse have been reported in first six months of 2015 only in Punjab.
These alarming facts made part of the report on Kasur incident by National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) shared with media on Monday. The report says that majority of the cases of child sexual abuses remain unreported.
A three-member fact-finding team of the NCHR visited Kasur district to meet the affected families, ascertain the facts and submit and investigational report besides monitoring of the investigation process. The findings were shared at a media briefing addressed by NHRC Chairperson Ali Nawaz Chowhan.
In its observations, the commission shared that children were sexually abused in village Hussain Khan Wala on large scale since 2010. Victims and parents were blackmailed. It says that perpetrators like those who abused children in Kasur thrive on our state of callousness and tendency to overlook issues considered taboo in our society.
It says that crime prevention mechanism and social protection mechanism of the state and their approaches towards situational crime prevention and social crime prevention failed in protecting innocent children. The report also condemned inappropriate use of anti-terrorism act against complainants causing fear of police-persecution and mistrust, leading towards social boycott to participate in investigation.
The NCHR chairperson said that to ensure speedy justice for the victims of Kasur incident, the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) would seek monthly progress report from the Chief Secretary Punjab in addition to initiating frequent interaction with Joint Investigation Committee through Inspector General Police office Punjab.
He requested the Punjab government to establish a trauma and counselling centre at Kasur. “The NCHR will work with DCO and DPO Kasur for trauma counselling of victims and their families in collaboration with civil society organisations and representatives of local people,” he shared with the media persons.
The NCHR chairperson also strongly recommended the federal government to take steps for expeditious enactment of The Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2009, National Commission on the Rights of Children Bill 2009, The Charter on the Child Rights Bill 2009 and to check flaws in the Police Act 2002.
The chairperson also talked about the limited resources available for the Commission. “Despite the fact that Commission in working without any human or financial resource, we are determined to take forward the agenda of human rights,” he said while expressing hope that the government would soon consider the hurdles in the way of the Commission for proper functioning.
The chairperson suggested the government to merge Human Rights Wing of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights with the Commission. “The Human Rights Wing has resource but they do not have mandate. It will be useful to combine mandate with resources,” he recommended.