- Police claim men arrested in child abuse case have confessed sodomising children, making videos as CM orders judicial enquiry
- Prime minister, leaders from PPP, PTI, JI condemn mass child abuse case in Kasur, demand thorough enquiry into the case
Political leaders poured in to condemn the cases of mass child abuse in Kasur as the police investigators claimed that seven men arrested in the case have confessed to sodomising the children and making videos of the acts.
SSP Investigation Nadeem Abbas told the journalists that seven accused, including Haseeb and Amir, have confessed to their crimes while as many as 10 more people have been identified in the clips. He said that the accused will be presented in court after the expiry of their physical remand.
Moreover, according to sources, as many as 60 more affected people will have their cases registered with the police today.
Earlier, the police said that they have arrested another suspect involved in producing and selling illicit videos of child sexual abuse in Kasur, bringing to seven the number of arrests in a massive child sex abuse scandal that has shocked the nation.
The suspect belongs to a gang of criminals which has reportedly been actively involved for the last 10 years in countless cases of extreme child sexual abuse in Ganda Singh Wala area of Kasur in Punjab.
Investigations revealed that around 400 videos were made of 280 minor victims of sex abuse by the gang of over 25 criminals.
Several parents of victims were consistently blackmailed and coerced to pay hundreds of thousands of rupees as they were threatened that the gang would release the videos in public. Reports said families in the locality were helpless as officials all along remained apathetic to the incident.
In the meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday ordered a judicial enquiry into the case.
The CM directed the Punjab Home Department to request the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik to immediately form a commission made up of district and sessions judges to conduct the enquiry, said a press release issued by the Punjab Directorate General Public Relations.
“Those involved in the case will be severely punished. They will not be able to escape their fate,” he said, adding, “The affected families will be provided with justice at any cost.”
Earlier a joint investigation team (JIT) was formed under the leadership of Lahore Commissioner Abdullah Khan Sumbal and Additional Inspector-General Operations Punjab Arif Nawaz Khan to investigate the case.
A report submitted by the JIT stated that six people have been arrested in connection with the case, while three suspects were absconding. Raids are being conducted to capture the fleeing suspects.
LEADERS CONDEMN:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with other prominent political leaders of the country, Sunday expressed grief and strong resentment over the Kasur incident.
PM Sharif said that the culprits behind the incident would be taken to task with exemplary punishment.
Separately, in a statement, former president Asif Ali Zardari called for a report from the Punjab chapter of the party on the media reports about the children in Kasur who were sexually abused and filmed by criminal gangs for blackmailing.
Zardari said that the reports were very disturbing and called for a thorough probe and investigation and bringing the culprits to justice under the law.
The reports are a slap on the face of the government and society and must not go un-noticed, the former president said.
In the meanwhile, PPP parliamentarians have also submitted notices in the Senate and the National Assembly for highlighting the case.
In a message, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also condemned the alleged police torture on parents of victim children, who demonstrated against the failure of local police to prosecute the criminals who orchestrated the scandal.
PTI, JI LASH OUT AT PML-N:
In the meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lashed out at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government over the Kasur tragedy.
Addressing a political rally in Haripur, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced on Sunday that his party will raise the matter of child abuse in the National Assembly.
“It is extremely embarrassing for all of us. We should ask ourselves as to why we created Pakistan if this is what had to happen,” said Khan, calling for punishment of all those involved in the heinous crime.
“Police and politicians committed this gruesome crime, as I have read in the papers,” he said.
Moreover, PTI senior leader Mehmoodur Rasheed, who visited the victim village on Sunday, claimed that the matter had nothing to do with a land dispute as claimed by police officials and alleged that law enforcers were trying to cover up the scandal.
“Such a crime continued to take place at such a large scale here and the government stayed asleep. I demand on behalf of the PTI and chairman Imran Khan that all these culprits not only be apprehended immediately but also be tried under military courts,” he said.
Furthermore, PTI Punjab Organiser Chaudhary Mohammad Sarwar demanded that the government should constitute a judicial enquiry into the children’s molestation scandal.
In the meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islam (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Sunday demanded of Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk to take suo motu notice of the massive child sexual abuse scandal.
Speaking to media representatives after meeting with guardians of the victims in Kasur, he said a judicial commission should be formed to probe the scandal on priority basis, adding that results achieved by the commission should be shared with the nation within two weeks.