Man arrested for attempting to rape minor girl in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: A man was taken into custody for allegedly attempting to sexually assault a six-year-old girl in the Pirwadhai area of Rawalpindi.

According to details, the arrest of the accused was made within the limits of Saddar Baruni police station in Rawalpindi.

The accused named Qari Rizwan locked the door of the room in the house of a 6-year-old girl under the pretext of reciting the Holy Quran. The girl said that the culprit tried to rape her but stopped soon after she raised hue and cry.

The girl’s mother started knocking on the door of her room however the accused Qari Rizwan managed to escape from the scene. Soon the girl’s mother informed the police on the 15 about the incident.

Later, police managed the arrest of the accused by tracing his location of the mobile phone. On the complaint, police have registered a case against Qari Rizwan and started further investigation.

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.

The conclusions were drawn from January-June 2020 data from 84 newspapers and covers incidents from all four provinces, as well as Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and GB, it added.