On Sunday (5th May), Pakistan’s Bisham Police arrested three men on charges of sexually harassing and videographing a college boy naked. The incident unfolded in the Maira area of Bisham tehsil in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The accused also blackmailed the victim to leak his video and threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the incident.
An FIR has been registered at the Dandai Police station in Bisham tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Sections 377 (unnatural offence), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for a shorter term), and 506/34 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the FIR, on Friday, 3rd May, the victim was returning after giving his intermediate examination when he was approached by the accused who were known to him. They lured him on the pretense of taking him to a riverbank where they attempted to sexually molest him. While the victim resisted, the accused videographed the boy in a naked state and threatened to make it public and kill him if he reported the ordeal.
Confirming the arrests, Station House Officer (SHO) Dandai Muhammad Arif Khan said that the trio named in the FIR were arrested and further interrogation was underway.
According to the FIR, the victim was sent to the tehsil headquarters hospital, Bisham, on the day of the crime for medical examination.
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 Pakistani news outlet Dawn.
Incidentally, on 2nd April, a Pakistani man, Faisal Rafi, asked people on X (formerly Twitter) if they were raped or sexually abused by a Maulvi (Islamic priest/religious teacher). The question went viral quickly, and hundreds of people, irrespective of gender, responded by saying yes, shocking many. Faisal himself said yes to the question. He said the incident happened to him not at a madrasa but at his home.
The responses made it evident that physical and sexual assault by Maulvis is common in Pakistan, even among Muslims living in the UK. Even in India, such cases have emerged from time to time. In December 2023, a Maulvi named Muntazir Alam was arrested for the sexual assault of a minor girl who came to learn Urdu at a mosque in Hamirpur.
As per reports, 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 madarsas is slightly higher than that of boys.
(With Inputs from ANI)