The sexual assault on a minor boy of 10 allegedly by a seminary teacher in Mansehra district has resulted into a public outcry on social media with people demanding exemplary punishment to the perpetrator.

The local police have so far arrested four persons, while the prime suspect named Shamsuddin is still at large. The victim, who received critical injuries because of multiple assaults, has presently been under treatment at the Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

The local police in Mansehra have also sealed the said seminary where around 120 students were admitted.

Apart from social media, the print and electronic media have also been covering this incident. However, in certain cases the media organisations have been violating confidentiality regarding the identity of the victim and had not only mentioned his name and addresses, but also aired the footages showing him hospitalised in bad shape.

Presently, there are several laws and ethical codes which prohibit disclosure of identity of a rape victim, including children.

Certain amendments were made in Pakistan Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure through the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences Relating to Rape) Act, 2016. Through the said Act section 376-A was inserted in PPC prohibiting disclosure of identity of victim of rape.

Under this provision, whoever prints or publishes name or any matter which may make known identity of victims against whom an offence of rape is alleged or found to have been committed shall be punished up to three years imprisonment and shall also be liable to fine.

The said provision provides certain exceptions in parenting and publication, including: by or under order in writing of officer-in-charge of the police station or police officer making investigation into such offences acting in good faith for the purpose of such investigation; or, by or under order of court; or, by or with authorisation in writing of the victim: or, by or with the authorisation in writing of natural and legal guardian of the victim where the victim is dead or a minor or of unsound mind.

Another law having provision related to confidentiality of a rape victim or a child victim of sexual abuse is the Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance 2002. The said Ordinance provides an Ethical Code of Practice. Rule 14 of the Code provides: “In the case of sexual offences and heinous crime against children, juveniles and women, names and identifying photographs shall not be published.”

Under Section 15 of the ordinance, whoever publishes or circulates any matter in contravention of the Ethical Code of Practice or directions of the Commission of Inquiry or Press Council may; require him to publish an apology promptly on the page specified by the Commission or the Council, as the case may be; Issue him a warning to be carried or circulated by the newspaper or news agency concerned promptly and prominently; and ask other newspapers to publish or news agencies to circulate the decision, in case of non-compliance of the decision by concerned newspaper or news agency and recommend to the competent authority to suspend the publication for a specific period not exceeding seven issues or recommend cancellation of the declaration in the event of persistent non-compliance.

For electronic media a Code of Conduct is provided in the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Ordinance.

Section 8 of the Code of Conduct relates to coverage of incidents of accidents, crimes and violence. Section 8 (5) states: “Extreme caution shall be exercised in handling themes, plots or scenes that depict sex offence and violence, including rape and other sexual assaults.

Sub-section (6) of section 8 provides: “Identity of any victim of rape, sexual abuse, terrorism or kidnapping or such victim’s family shall not be revealed without prior permission of the victim or victim’s guardian where victim is a minor.”

Furthermore, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the KP Child Protection and Welfare Commission Act was enacted in 2010. Section 24 of that law deals with publication of name of a child involved in any proceedings.

“No report in any newspaper, magazine or news sheet of any assessment regarding a child under this Act shall disclose the name, address or school or any other particulars, which lead to the identification of the child nor shall any picture of the child be published: Provided that for reasons to be recorded in writing, the authority holding the assessment may permit such disclosure, if in its opinion such a disclosure is in the interest of the child,” sub-section (1) of section 24 states.

Sub-section 2 provides that any person contravening the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punished with fine which may extend up to Rs10,000.

A major flaw in this provision is that it does not include electronic media and is applicable only to newspapers and magazines.

Apart from domestic legislations, there are also Guidelines of International Federation of Journalists for reporting on issues related to children.

The Guidelines state that journalists and media organisations shall strive to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct in reporting children’s affairs and, in particular, they shall avoid programming and publication of images which intrude upon the media space of children with information which is damaging to them; consider carefully the consequences of publication of any material concerning children and shall minimise harm to children; guard against visually or otherwise identifying children unless it is demonstrably in the public interest; avoid the use of sexualised images of children; use fair, open and straightforward methods for obtaining pictures and, where possible, obtain them with the knowledge and consent of children or a responsible adult, guardian or career, etc.

A known child rights activist, Imran Takkar, said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and other relevant authorities should take notice of these violations regarding disclosing identity of victims of sexual abuse. He said that violating the confidentiality was not only unethical rather also illegal and in violation of different laws.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2019