Child murder cases spark violence in Pakistan city

Police officers, people gather at the spot where children’s remains were discovered (Social media)

By Nasir Aijaz
AsiaN Correspondent

Islamabad: The rape and murder of three minor children in Kasur has sparked protests across the Kasur city of Punjab province.

The protesters shut down shops and transport and pelted stones at police station on Wednesday.

They also blocked roads leading to the police station by setting tyres on fire.

The trade association of the city and the local bar association had called for a strike after the dead bodies of the three children were discovered by the authorities on Tuesday.

Nine suspects have been arrested in the case, the district police officer told the media.

DNA tests of the suspects were done and results will be handed over to the Joint Investigation Team within three days.

On Tuesday, the remains of at least three of the four children who went missing from Kasur over the past 75 days were found, police said, confirming that all three were raped before buried underground.

Kasur police said the body of one of the four missing children was recovered, while only the remains of the other two were found. The remains were sent for DNA testing.

According to the police, 12-year-old Imran of Rana Town had gone missing on June 1, eight-year-old Ali Hasnain and nine-year-old Salman in August, and eight-year-old Faizan on September 16.

Only Faizan’s body was recovered, whereas the bones of the remaining two were recovered from sand dunes in the Chunian Industrial Area.

Although only Faizan was identified since his body was recovered, the identities of the other two children would be confirmed once the results of the DNA test would be made available.

So far, 12-year-old Imran of Rana Town is still missing.

Punjab registered an alarming number of child sexual abuse cases over the past seven months, police records revealed.

Punjab police, citing its records, said at least 126 child sexual abuse cases were registered in that period, depicting alarming rise in the incidents of sexual violence in the province.

Some 129 alleged rapists were named in 126 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered over child sexual abuse at various police stations across Punjab, the police added.