PESHAWAR: Chamkani police on Friday arrested a man for assaulting an 11-year-old boy in the Rano Ghari village here.

A member of the victim’s family told Dawn that the boy was in a mosque to offer Friday prayers, when the accused identified as Abdul Rashid, 50, grabbed him and forcibly took him to nearby sugarcane field where he assaulted him.

He said the family was alerted after villagers heard the child’s cries and his mother rushed to the scene and freed the boy from the assaulter.

He said the police had arrested the accused, but also registered a case against the victim’s family on trumped-up charges of opening fire on the family of the accused.

He said the allegation of opening fire was baseless as no male member was around when the incident took place.

He said a medical examination of the child was also conducted which confirmed the assault.

A Chamkani police official confirmed the arrest of the accused and said FIR under section 377 of PPC had been registered against him.

About not charging the accused under the clauses of the Child Protection Act, the official said other clauses would be included in the FIR following the medical report and prosecutor’s opinion. He denied registering FIR against the victim’s family.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2019