At least three young boys were sodomized in separate incidents in Peshawar and Shabqadar.
In the first incident, a 12-year-old child was raped in Jabba Sohail within the jurisdiction of Yakatoot police station in Peshawar on Monday night.
A local registered an FIR against the incident. As per the report, Ajab Noor took the 12-year-old to his house where his friends raped him.
“Ajab Noor has been named in the FIR and we have arrested him,” Yakatoot SHO Sabz Ali Shah said.
As per the rape survivor’s family, the police caused delays in registering the FIR so as to help the accused.
Separately, a 10-year-old seminary student was raped in Charsadda.
Imran Mohmand, a police official, said, the boy was raped by Abdullah Khan, in Kosarabad area of Charsadda. “The boy had gone to buy a ball from a sports shop,” he said. “Abdullah told him he would sell him new merchandise at his other shop and took him there. The 10-year-old was raped at the shop.”
On Sunday, a nine-year-old boy was raped within the jurisdiction of Paharipura police station.
A resident of Pakha Ghulam village told the police his son was an apprentice at an embroidery shop. He added his son was raped by Saddam, another boy who worked at the same store.
Faqirabad ASP Wasim Riaz said they raided the accused’s house and arrested him.
Child Rights Activist Arshad Mahmood said child labour was prevalent among the underprivileged sections of society. He added sexual abuse and other forms of violence was a deleterious consequence of child labour.
“Those children who are forced into child labour are vulnerable to sexual abuse and corporal punishment,” he said.
According to Mahmood, it is unfortunate that pressing concerns in society have not been addressed. He said it was time for Pakistan to introduce a proactive child protection system in the country and urged society as a whole to be involved in it.
Imran Takkar, another child rights activist, said prevention was the only means to develop an efficient child rights system in the country.
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