Rising crimes against children echo in KP Assembly

PESHAWAR: The rising incidents of children’s abduction, sexual abuse and killings was raised in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday.

Through an adjournment motion, Nighat Orakzai of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) sought discussion on the rising incidents of children abduction and sexual abuse. Initiating the discussion, she expressed concern over delay in executing the Safe City Project. She said the police had to get help from private CCTV cameras installed by people. She said the KP police force lacked investigation facilities. Nighat Orakzai said there was no forensic laboratory in the province while the government had put a cut on provision of fuel to police. She said the salaries and allowances of the KP police were low compared to the cops in Punjab.

The lawmaker said crimes against the children were on the rise. She also talked about the recent rape and murder of two small girls in the limits of the Peshawar cantonment. She said that a little girl was killed by her father in Charsadda while a boy was killed after being raped in Abbottabad on July 11.

She informed the House that according to the Central Police Office (CPO), about 360 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in the province in 2021, about 23 cases of child molestation in 2020 and 185 molestation cases were reported in 2019.

Nighat Orakzai said if an abducted child was not recovered within 72 hours then his/her recovery became impossible that was why quick action was needed in such cases. She said the bill against domestic violence and harassment was passed two years ago which suggested the constitution of district committees but despite the lapse of two years the committees could not be formed.