Pakistan: Gang 'involved' in child abuse apprehended in Karachi

KARACHI: In a significant development, Police in Karachi's Orangi Town have dismantled a gang allegedly engaged in the sexual abuse of children, rescuing three minors in the process, according to Pakistan media outlet ARY News.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) for Orangi Town revealed that three members of the gang have been apprehended, with an equal number of children recovered by law enforcement.

According to the SP, the modus operandi of the gang involved enticing children with sums ranging from PKR 200 to PKR 300 before subjecting them to sexual exploitation. Additionally, the suspects were purportedly engaged in filming the abuse and circulating the videos within the vicinity, as reported by ARY News.

The investigation into the matter was initiated following the disappearance of a child on May 11. Subsequent interrogations led to the unraveling of the gang's illicit activities.

One of the suspects, identified as Nisar, reportedly enticed children from gaming zones and transported them to the gang's hideout. There, the minors were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse and also trafficked to others.

It was disclosed by the police that the gang predominantly targeted children aged between 12 to 14 years.

Law enforcement authorities further elaborated that the suspects employed a strategy of wearing a helmet associated with an online motorcycle service to evade detection while transporting the children from one location to another, ARY News reported.

Data collected by Sahil, an NGO dedicated to addressing child sexual abuse, reveals a disturbing trend: the majority of abusers are individuals known to the victims, such as acquaintances, neighbours, or even family members.

Shockingly, religious teachers and clerics emerge as the primary perpetrators within institutional settings, surpassing even police officers, school teachers, or nuclear family members in the number of complaints filed against them, according to Dawn.

Primary data remains limited and organisations rely on media reports and police complaints but the trend over the past 20 years shows the gender divide of abused girls in madrassas is slightly higher than that of boys ('Cruel Numbers').