184 children sexually assaulted, 4 murdered in KP this year

PESHAWAR: As many as 184 children were sexually assaulted while four of them were murdered by the predators in different incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year, a source told The News.

Kohat, Mardan, Nowshera and Mansehra are the districts where one each incident of murder of children after the rape was reported during 2020. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sanaullah Abbasi told The News that 235 accused involved in rape and murder of the children were arrested by the police. “The number of incidents of assaults on children decreased during the current year compared to the past years. The reporting of cases to the police has increased as we are becoming transparent. Previously, cases were not reported as the society is conservative,” said Abbasi.

The police chief said the behaviour and trends of the society and the treatment needs to be changed. He said apart from strict action against the culprits, measures are being taken to educate the society. It was learnt that the highest number of incidents of rape, 34, was reported from Dera Ismail Khan, followed by 26 incidents in Peshawar, 19 in Mardan, 17 in Swat and 13 in Nowshera. These do not include unreported cases.

No case was reported from Battagram, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Hangu, Tank districts this year. Five incidents of rape of children were reported in Chrasadda, seven in Swabi, six in Buner, three in Shangla, seven in Dir Lower, six in Dir Upper, one in Chitral, five in Abbottabad, four in Haripur, eight in Mansehra, one in Torghar, nine in Kohat, four in Karak, three in Bannu and four in Lakki Marwat. Senior police officials said almost all the cases were worked out and the accused arrested.

They said 35 people were arrested in Peshawar, 26 in Mardan, nine in Charsadda, 21 in Nowshera, seven in Swabi, 19 in Swat, 11 in Buner, four in Shangla, nine in Dir Lower, ten in Dir Upper and two were arrested for rape of children in Chitral. Five were arrested in Abbottabad, six in Haripur, nine in Mansehra, 12 in Kohat, six in Karak, three in Bannu, four in Lakki Marwat while 37 were arrested for rape of children in Dera Ismail Khan. The rape and murder of children is one of the most heinous crimes that has been happening across the country for long. Many children are vulnerable because the majority of the parents never doubted the predators within the family or neighbourhood. The KP Police have recently set up a research directorate with a focus on various issues, including sexual assault on children to study the previous cases and give recommendations to stop such incidents in future.

Experts believe many cases of rape were not being reported to police in KP and other provinces due to social taboos and for being conservative society. Social media has witnessed an uproar on some of the incidents of rape of women and children in different parts of the country, asking for tougher punishments for the culprits as well as education and awareness for the public to avoid such incidents in future. The latest uproar was on the rape of a woman on Motorway, last month.