It’s curious that little is being done to go deeper into the problem of child sexual abuse in the country despite the strictures of society and political leaders on social ills.
It is a worthwhile question to investigate why this issue is not just widespread but endemic in many regions of Pakistan despite the existence of numerous laws designed to protect children from abuse and more recent initiatives like the Zainab Alert app.
However, previoulsy in January 2018, before the kidnapping and murder of the young girl Zainab, few openly questioned that the world’s most heinous crime is happening to such young children in Pakistan or that there are a growing number of pedophiles in the country who take pleasure in seeing videos of children being raped and killed.
Yet despite the impact of the Zainab case, yesterday, a local court in Rawalpindi acquitted convicted pedophile Sohail Ayaz in a case. However, the court upheld the death penalty in other cases for raping and uploading videos on the Dark Web of child abuse. In the Rawalpindi court, additional session judge Ahsan Mahmood Malik made a decision in favour of the defendant.
The Judge claimed that the FIA had not provided evidence against the accused Sohail Ayaz throughout the jail trial. Nonetheless, Sohail Ayaz’s death sentence has been upheld for abducting and raping young boys and for recording and disseminating the heinous acts. During the investigation he confessed to having abducted and sexually assaulted over 30 children in different cities. As per the court record, Ayaz had raped over 30 children and uploaded videos of the assaults to the dark web.
Child abuse is an unreported but an alarming issue in every civilized society. The effects of child abuse are typically hidden from the public perspective, despite the fact that half of all children worldwide are exposed to violence and the trauma of survivors. The most defenseless members of society—children—need to be educated and given the authority to protect themselves from abuse by strangers, their teachers, and their relatives—especially in this period of globalization.
Numerous studies over the years have demonstrated how adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse or neglect, can negatively affect an individual’s long-term physical and mental health. It has been connected to accelerated ageing, chronic illnesses, and even early demise. Pakistan has a history of responding to issues too late in time. Child abuse is widely prevalent but rarely recognized as a social problem in Pakistan.
It is imperative that we protect children from this pandemic of abuse. The administration must carry out its commitment to providing children with a safe childhood. It is essential that Pakistan’s leaders concentrate all of their efforts on minimizing this menace and providing safety and tranquilly for Pakistan’s children.
