A six-year-old minor was allegedly raped in Gwadar, and the police have said that they have apprehended the accused.
The Gwadar police said that the accused, identified as Gul Sher s/o Muhammad Hussain, abducted a six-year-old girl from the Meerpur Khas area of district Gwadar, raped her and he fled the scene. The police said that they acted on the time, and the culprit was arrested soon after the crime. He will be investigated and persecuted under section 364, 376 and 511 of the Pakistani constitution, which respectively call for punishment for abduction in order to murder, rape and committing an offence.
It should be noticed that similar cases of child sexual abuse have surfaced in Balochistan many times in the past. According to some estimates, 50 cases of child sexual abuse emerged in various areas of Balochistan in 2020. And the figure is considered to be vastly undercounted, as many victims and their families keep a quiet on such issues to maintain their “honor” in the society.
Only a few weeks ago one such incident found its way to social media: a ten-year-old boy named Murad Ameer was sexually assaulted in Kech by a Frontier Corps soldier when he was on his way to a date garden with his brother. According to family members, Ameer was left unconscious on the scene and he returned home crying. The incident sparked outrage in Balochistan – thousands took to the social media, demanding the authorities investigate the incident and bring the culprit to justice.
Situated in a valley in Harnai district of Balochistan, Shahrag, a rugged town predominantly populated by Pashtuns, has earned a reputation for rampant child sexual abuse in its coal mines. 300 to 400 coal mines are mined by almost 30,000 men. But Shahrag also hides an ugly secret – the thousands of mature coal miners bring minors, mostly poor children between 10 to 15, for the sole purpose of sexually abusing them. In return, they are paid a menial salary for their services.
Despite the considerable media coverage, the government of Balochistan has turned a deaf ear to the child sexual abuses in Shahrag.