Cleric arrested for allegedly raping minor girl in Okara

OKARA: A 70-year-old imam of a mosque was arrested and booked by the police on Saturday for allegedly raping a minor girl inside the masque room in the Okara area of Punjab.

According to details, the accused Imam teaches at a madrasa in Okara. On Saturday, when the madrasa was closed for the day, the accused took a 10-year-old girl adjacent to the mosque under the pretext of memorizing the Holy Quran where the girl was sexually abused.

The accused also threatened the girl not to disclose the matter to their parents. However, upon returning home, the girl revealed the matter to their parents as they started feeling pain. 

The girl was shifted to Okara Hospital for medico-legal formalities. The medical report proved that the girl was raped and the police have registered a case against the imam of the mosque under section 376.

Child protection NGO Sahil had indicated in its latest report that the number of child sexual abuse cases reported in Pakistan every day gone up in the first half of 2020. According to the report, more than six children on average were subjected to sexual abuse in the period in Pakistan.

In its six-month “Cruel Number” report, Sahil reported that as of June this year, 497 children were sexually abused. The report further said most of the cases were in Punjab — at 57%. Of the rest, 32% were reported in Sindh and 6% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

More than 35 cases were reported in Islamabad, 22 in Balochistan, 10 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and one in Gilgit-Baltistan, the report disclosed. Out of the total reported cases, 62% were from rural areas and 38% reported from urban areas

At least 173 children were gang-raped, whereas there were 227 reports of attempted sexual assault. Moreover, 38 children were killed after they were sexually abused.

Of the total children who were subjected to sexual abuse, 53% were girls and 47% boys. The NGO also highlighted that 51 cases of underage marriage were reported.