62
Nadeem, who pimps 10 teenage sex workers aged 14-18, lights a cigarette in Saddar, Karachi.—AFP
KARACHI: Nadeem knows first hand the misery of life on the streets. Sexually assaulted as a child, he became a pimp of young boys —the only way he knew how to survive as a member of Pakistan’s underclass.
He says he was 12 years old when he was attacked. Since then, he has been dragged into a vicious cycle of horrifying abuse allegedly aided and abetted by police and which few are willing to confront in the Muslim country.
“It was just the third night I slept on a street when a policeman picked me up and did bad things to me. I cried a lot but no one came to help me,” Nadeem, now 17, told AFP.
He was sexually assaulted for a second time by the leader of a street gang, who then forced Nadeem to join the 17 other children in his gang.
By 14 he was a full-time sex worker. His pimp gave him a mobile phone to keep in contact with clients.
According to charities which work to protect street children in Pakistan, up to 90 per cent are sexually abused on the first night that they sleep rough and 60 per cent accuse police of sexually abusing them.
“Children on the street are beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted, and sometimes killed,” said Rana Asif Habib, head of the Initiator Human Development Foundation (IHDF).
“Police (should) protect people. When policemen are themselves involved in molesting children, who will protect them?” he asks.
“What we have gathered in our research is that policemen make up more than 60 per cent of those who physically torment, sexually harass street children,”said Anwer Kazmi of the Edhi Foundation, the country’s largest charity.
Karachi is home to Pakistan’s biggest community of street children —tens of thousands of victims of domestic violence and broken homes, drugs and crime, in the steamy port city.
More than 170,000 street children live on the streets across the country.
Illiterate, uneducated and most without family, the children can grow into seasoned criminals, drug addicts or fall prey to militancy.
When Nadeem turned 16, he tried to escape. He received counselling from a charity and was taught photography. He tried to make it his profession.
“I was happy with my work, but a year ago, a policeman put me in the lockup on a false charge, confiscated my camera and abused me sexually,” he said. The experience turned him against the world.
“I decided to become stronger. Now I have my own gang and many influential people are my clients. No one can touch me now.”Nadeem says he acts as a pimp to 10 teenage sex workers aged 14-18, taking a sizeable cut of whatever the boys in earn.
“Half an hour after finishing with one client I get another call and I forget all about wanting a respectable life.”
Nadeem lives on a street in the downtown Saddar neighbourhood, but rents a room in a cheap hotel when he has surplus cash. He confesses that he too sexually assaulted a child.
“He insulted me and my family so I told him he had it coming. So I grabbed him and gave it to him. I still remember that night. I haven’t done that to anyone else since then and I don’t want to.”
Rizwan is a fisherman’s son. He insists he is 12, but he looks much younger. He left home three years ago because his family beat him and says he was abused by police. IHDF fears he too will be dragged into the sex industry.
“The police tried to make me do bad things six or seven times but I managed to get away,” he said.
“But one day, one policeman took me by force, put a cloth over my mouth and took me to a place where he did bad things.”
Shaukat Hussain, head of police in Karachi’s southern district where many street children live, said any officers found guilty would be punished, but denied the force was anything like as culpable as reported.
“There are black sheep in our department who are involved in such acts. But we punish anyone whose crime comes to surface and is proved,” he told AFP.
“The number of policemen who are involved in such acts is far less than what is being claimed by the media and NGOs,” he added.
Pakistan offers little protection to vulnerable children. “A draft bill for child protection has been pending with the interior ministry for two years,” a senior official of the human rights ministry told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
The bill is designed to tighten the laws protecting children, bringing them in line with international conventions, doing more to help children in difficulty and bringing police and other offenders to book for abusing minors.
“There is a visible lack of interest on the part of the government on this issue… despite our constant pursuits,” said the ministry official.
One former police official told AFP that he organised seminars to sensitise police on how to treat street children four years ago, but that the programme was abruptly abandoned when he retired.
I just died a little inside
Ohhh God! This is completely not an Islamic act. A country which claims to be a Muslim country but the leaders and police involved doing such things then do you still call it as a Muslim country. I think it is committing sin if someone says Pakistan is an Islamic country. It should not be!!! Otherwise it will damage our beloved religion’s image. Pakistan should be declared as an Un Islamic country immediately….
we should consider…and think that are we really a citizens of muslim country?
THE media should regularly highlight these issues.They take place because of lack of education both academically and morally.These sorts of incidents are the worst examples of moral collapse.The results are the chain of these incidents where the victims want others to feel the same sufferings they have gone through
Pakistan is a failed nation in every way. The whole system is corrupt. Everyone has abused the religion. Somehow everything is fault of outsiders…Shame shame..wake up..losers
If these are our law enforcers, what justice and protection can these children expect ?
Actually the main problem is poverty, unemployment, injustice in our society, it all the main cause of every crime. No body would like to left their homes and live on the foot paths and streets. Karachi is most populas city thats why its noted but if we check the newspapers that kind childs are abused day by day in province and whole of the country. This is not issue of male only but girls also in the age of 13_14 which are working in the homes on some little amounts, they also sexually abused by the house holds. Here every next there are hundreds of mobile clips are lounched, and day by day the situation is bad. I think its impossible to control over.
For most of our problems, we blame USA and Israel. I am happy that at least over this issue, no one blamed above two nations. When we can't confront with local bullies, how can we think to fight with foreign powers. First of all, try to reign over these local beasts (corrupt police and corrupt Mullahs).
All we do is talk. We Pakistanis are cowards. In the end we say, "may Allah save us" This is the easiest way out. Leaving it all upto Allah. Why don't we do something ourselves? Why do we always have to bring religion or God into something that deserves our own personal attention? For eg. stay one night on the streets with these kids or ask these kids to name the so called influential people/ clients or policemen involved. Would we do that? NOOOOO… All we do is write fancy articles and leave it up to Allah. Stand up you educated people power. Take a lead role on the streets. What we educated people are capable of achieving NO ONE can achieve.
childern and women are the most deprived sections of pakistani society who are vulnerable to abuse in most part of the country.
need to do something
the problem is social not criminal. all the society has become sick and emphasis is only on the driving towards 'jannat' by giving charity and money to the 'thaikedaars'.
Every pakistani should play a concrete roll to eliminate such acts. And we must follow the islamic rules.
We do not deserve to lead a respectful,Sophisticated and proudfull nation. Perhaps it is commulative punishment of our guilty that the city of light is passing through a bloodish situation.
We should play meaninfull meaaures to contain this inhumanity action sexually abuse of child.
Feel so sad for those unprotected children. Only way out seems to be that NGOs should come in greater numbers and strongly
Islamic Republic of Pakistan……..What a Shame!!
I am simply stunned. No words can describe my feelings after reading this article, and we call ourselves a Islamic country!
This is one act I never expected to happen in Pakistan, and that coming from so called Muslim people.
Child abuse exists all over the world, unfortunately pursuits not that much enough to eliminate the curse and requires cooperation, vigilance, tolerance and much more to educate people.
it should be a public health issue, by reducing brithrate these things can be preventible
This is an intolerable situation! Children, generally considered the future of a country being abused sexually, physical, etc. Pakistan and it's society has climbed down into an abject condition from which there is no return. The police who should be looked up to for protection are themselves involved in this crime. Shame on Zardari! Shame on Gilani! shame on the people of Pakistan who tolerate such degradation and tearing of the it's social fabric. Long time ago Pakistan stopped being a nation of people. It is clearly a failed state, it is an anamoly amongst nations. It is an aberration that continues to hurtle towards some destructive destination. The leaders of Pakistan have a lot to answer for !!!!
It is not possible to eradicate this evil in a society where sexes are so strictly segregated.
So, the name of this country is "Islamic Republic Of Pakistan"?? Right……No further comments…
Very sad … poverty and illiteracy make it hard for kids… pakistan needs free education (with free meals)in secular schools for all kids. Give them an opportunity to grow up reasonably well fed and acquire some basic education in a secure environment.
In TamilNadu, Kamaraj introduced in the 1950s a free meal scheme for kids in government schools and helped lakhs of kids get basic education since parents liked the free meal scheme. A lot of the kids did well and went on to college on scholarships!!
it is an excellent piece of work by dawn. KPK is also not safe… govt should impose strict laws to punish the offenders
Reading the report made me angry but reading all these comments up here is agonizing and maddening. Surprised at the toee of the helpless folks who suddenly turn so religious and wish God's intervention in human crimes. Those who physically commit such crimes are bad but those of us who just hope and pray are even worse. You can wait for some gods to come down and take care of our weakness and lack of courage or muster enough guts and come out in the streets together in millions and scream —-STOP! and if it doesn't then make it stop. It's our country and these kids are our fellow citizens.
very bad and sad. let us say good by to should be and try to stop such things by invoking law.
Pakistan a so called Islamic country, where every thing wrong goes under the cover. Police can easily catch the culprits a little will is required.
Pakistan is the only muslim country where a muslim can be bombed by a muslim while offering prayer to their God…..how ironic? and wouldn't we expect these kinds of things over there? For an adult man to rape a child, let alone a boy, requires a lot of immorality, stone-heart, and low self respect…far too common in our society. Unfortunately, nobody can see the end of the tunnel here…Time to ask some tough questions, would this kind of thing have happened if we were still ruled by the Brits? I honestly think a BIG NO!!! This is what we have done with our freedom!
What a sad story. What kind of animals have we become? I am sure Allah will be so proud of us.
miserable children of a corrupt nation
We r corrupt morally,religiously and almost in every manner
Quite simply the acts described above are disgusting. But its about time we learnt to talk about these things. Society everywhere, not just in pakistan, prefers to ignore such topics and pretend it doesnt happen. I say this as a British Pakistani, who was sexually abused as a child. Though i have been fortunate enough to never have to live on the street, i have never been able to confront the issue either. Alhamdulillah i have been lucky to come out the other side and build a successful legitimate career, but many do not. This problem is NOT confined to the poor, homeless or any other fraction. It happens in all classes of society. But until we do not speak about it we will never understand the true extent of the problem.
on another note: i find the statistic of 90% abused on their first night appalling, but also difficult to believe. I trust that it was quoted in the best of faith, but would love to read some of the original research where this was published, if anyone can help? Thankyou.
Hi Asad,
i am devastated since i've read this story. its been a while since I wanted to talk about on this issue with some one. i live in UK too and would love the opportunity to talk to you to find a way to raise this issue amongst people and do something for these kids as i firmly believe that it is our obligation to do at least something for them not only in the name of religion but in for the sake of Humanity too. please reply if you are interested.
regards
Ahmed
Hi MA,
thanks for your reply. Yes i would be happy to talk to you about this. I am sure there is something that can be done to help children and would love to be a part of any such project. But i am not sure how we c an get in touch. I do not feel comfortable leaving my personal contact details online.
Pakistan is a Muslim country. It is forbidden in Islam this type of acts to any Muslim Ummah. Is Government and political parties are following the code of conduct of Islamic principle?
THERE should be new law that any person or even the parents of
those children are abused should be punished by law.
THE children are the future of the country this is not something
new to PAKISTAN we have ISLAMIC society and every person should
know that dealing with children is like a FLOWER, if you do not
develop your children I think those people should not have children. ALLAH BLESS THEM ALL AMEN .
Watching vulgarity on media does not lead to this psyche. But treating sex as a taboo subject and its over suppression in the society leads to perversions like this. It is just a natural outcome of an over-orthodox society which prohibits discussion of "sex" in the open and enjoys it in the most heinous manner in the dark or behind closed doors.
yes, Allah will solve everything. you just sit and watch.
Insane!
Is there no industrialist, mill owner, or a big businessman who could build a school where such children could be admitted to live, study and grow to become respectable citizens? There must be some specialists or experts in finding a way to finance such institutions to help philanthropists do this noble job. If there is not even a single man among 15 crore people to do it, then I am sorry to say that Pakistan has no right to exist on the world map.
Education, education & good quality education at all levels in every sphre of life… is the only solution
No law, No charity, no individual department can fix problems of this scale… a result of moral collapse of society
We have lost 60+ years of education & result are obvious…
If anyone at helm of affairs is not totally focussed on fixing education system s/he is not sincere in doing any good to Pakistan…
Just not eduation we must have laws and the will to implement them. Period.
I completely agree, education is the only way to solve these problems, but if only those who are actually educated cared about these people too. Most of Pakistan is not educated and for the most part, those that are are too selfish to do anything good for the country. Even the educated must change their attitudes.
This is utterly inhuman! Disgusting and sad beyond words! If the police is doing it itself, who's going to put the criminals behind the bars. The govt, for once, must aid the poor in family planning to reduce the size of the upcoming generation of street children. I feel so sorry for these little ones who're forever stripped of their childhood and innocence and are turned into criminals – forcefully! What a sad sad place we've made of our land.
Hmmm pretty much its expected fom
I agree with all the above well said opinions. Our country is in a terrible mess, its so depressing to read these things especially because the victims are just innocent kids. Its very true that it is our responsisbility to stop this either by hand, mouth or in our heart. But just in our heart will not improve the siuation; we need action otherwise we will all come under Allah's Azaab just like the people of Prophet Lot. May Allah give us the strengh and ability to stop all this brutality and bloodshed. May we have leaders whom we can trust and respect. The interior ministry is to blame for keeping this important isssue on the desk for 2 years.
May Allah provide right path to these people
It is very sad to learn about these street children in Karachi. Politicians of Pakistan are busy making money and being in power. For God's sake wakeup and save these children and introduce a strict law in force so those involved are punished. Besides holding of awareness camps, seminars, symposiums will also prevention of these bad acts away from the society. May Almight give courage and wisdom to the politicans of pakistan.
May Allah help & protect these poor children. We have forgotten our responsibilities and only care for our selves. We, being silent are equally liable for the crime. It is time that we all unite and take action to stop these crimes.
in pakistan if we see people love to see indian media, which shows woman in half naked dress. what we are seeing, our children also sees. we should correct ourselves first. people who commits sexual crime, mostly seduce by tv movies etc.
other thing is people mentality has became like this whatever they see they think its movie. even people see someone is fighting with someone people just stay and watch. right way is when you see someone is doing wrong, stop him by hand or by tongue. and last case is you think bad in your heart that whatever he is doing is wrong.
religious people are dividing people in many sectors even they dont know true value of islam. People of Prophet lot commits this crime, they used to have sex with man to man. Allah destroyed them by great punishment. if we people of karachi are doing this act sure great punishment is near.
I pray almighty Allah show us right path, and help each other without any racial, language or any other difference. amen
Dear friend Muhammed,
Are you suggesting that people in Pakistan have forgotten the distinction between the movies and reality? People are acting like monster because they are watching half naked women in Indian movies?
I urge you to stop pointing fingers for once and stand united against this heinous crime against children. Children are the future of a country, after all.
Nate Gupta
Kind of surprised you had to attribute this to Indian TV shows. Did you read what drove the young kid? It is the adults who abuse their power commit this kind of crime on helpless kids. These kids unfortunately after going through this abuse become hardened criminals. The NGOs have to actively fight for these helpless kids and bring the culprits to task. Unfortunately in countries like India, Pakistan where we have huge number of homeless kids this is a huge task and requires a sustained effort.
Muhammed: Please do not blame the Indian media.Sexual exploitation of children are taking place in every country, East or West. You and your Government can block all India media or movies if you or your Government consider them unfit or not worthy for Pakistan.Pakistan is going through a terrible time and it is not good to blame other nations of your internal problems.
Let me know once you have crawled out from under your rock
Yeah, blame India, blame TV, blame women, and if all that does not work blame the children themselves. Anything except take responsibility for the criminal behavior. What is it with people like you? Do you not learn anything from religion about not seeing others as objects of pleasure? Stop the hypocrisy and lecturing. Learn to have enough respect for yourself not to harm others.
May my god help these poor souls. Amen
Thank you Dawn for putting this taboo subject in the public domain. Children suffer the most and have the weakest voice. I hope you keep tormenting our conscience until genuine positive steps are taken to address this great shame.
“The number of policemen who are involved in such acts is far less than what is being claimed by the media and NGOs,” he added.
I do not agree with this statement. This person is only protecting his department.
The situation is same in all across the country. The situation is quite critical in Balochistan, there people have not enough awareness on such issues. They do not report these cases in their near police station due to their tribal systems. In this way the abuser feels protection. And there is no one to catch him after his bad deed. We need a lot of awareness to deal with such kind of cases.
The problem with Pakistan, no one cares about anything or anyone, except them selves. Thats why its making no progress and this sort of crimes goes on. While the rest of the world is on the streets fighting for justice, rights, and democracy, the youth and young of Pakistani sleep in their beds. Come on the youth of Pakistan wake up, its your country your future.
Children are being sexually abused all over Pakistan, not only Karachi, this is not the good Muslim country that we are led to believe it is. The things that I have learnt about Pakistan makes my hair "stand on end". Save these poor children or like the guy in the story they will also turn to bad acts against children. It is the duty of every adult to protect children.
Whatever is happening in karachi now a days is undoubtedly the result of these savage crimes. the children who are subjected to sexual assault and various brutalities by cursed people are turned into violence and act as target killers, murderers, kidnappers, smugglers, molesters of children, and many other unlawful workers. apparently, suffers should be provided with justice and protection and offenders should be brought in books to control such savage acts. but, question arises as to who will do this when our protectors indulge themselves in such fatal luxuries. now, it is enough. we don't have patience to tolerate such offenses anymore. I damned the representatives of law and functionary of our country who call it an ISLAMIC republic. system should be changed otherwise our nation and country would be wiped off from the pace of world. Because, it is a reality that those nations who have no care and respect about justice and discipline are either demolished or become ruled. by others.
While in UK, i wept while reading these stories and i could not reach the end of the stories. I can only say, if we think we are a MUSLIM, we are not, if we think we are HUMAN, we are not if we say , finally we are Animals, i will say, Animals are better than us in many respects. Allah will bring misery, and curse. Do not expect anything good. The misery and curse are your President and other top leaders. Hope everyone agrees, if you have faith in Allah
'The government is going to fix the problem'…. SURE!
Ahhh…… Sad