The year 2019 saw 1,304 cases of child sexual abuse across Pakistan between Jan-June, with Punjab topping the list at 652 cases. The newspapers are peppered with incidents of child sexual abuse, kidnappings, rapes and murders, only to be forgotten as new ones take their place every single day. The 21st century has afforded these pedophiles a new medium; the internet is overrun with pornographic images involving children. The Kasur cases are still fresh in public memory, where a horrific minefield of videos and images of children being assaulted, forced to perform sexual acts and even tortured were discovered. The police and the government took little to no action in stopping the crime ring involved, and to this day, barely any punishments have been meted out.
Another cause of grave concern is the profitability and marketability of this endeavor and how far behind Pakistan is as a country on establishing any stringent policies or means of tagging, identifying and punishing the individuals involved in this heinous crime.
Post the Kasur scandal, the penal code was amended to include the criminalization of sexual assault against minors, child pornography and trafficking for the first time; previously only the acts of rape and sodomy were punishable by law. However, the problem lies with the lack of implementation of these laws;
numerous cases of victims and their families clashing against authorities came to light, as the police failed to register any cases due to the social status of the criminals. Out of the 34 cases registered, only 3 of the prosecuted have had a sentence handed out.
It is believed that the brothers of MPA (PML-N) Malik Saeed were arrested by Ganda Singh Wala Police as suspects in the case, after which the MPA attacked the jail’s SHO threatening him to release his brothers, and remit them from any involvement in the case. Many of the cases were forcefully closed, as the powers that be had individuals from their own families involved. The criminals were absolved of all crimes without even a cursory investigation.
