SAHIWAL: Three youths allegedly raped a class-IX student, recorded the video on mobile phones and blackmailed him in Pakpattan.

City Police booked the three suspects, residents of Bahiwala and Inamabad areas of Pakpattan and Malka Hans, under PPC 376 (iii), following a complaint by the father of the victim boy. Two of them have been arrested while one is still at large.

Reports said the 9th-grade student, a resident of Mohalla Inamabad, was befriended by his neighbour boy, one of the suspects, on social media. Their friendship developed through meetings at a local Shwarma shop because both are from the same locality. On Aug 22, the boy asked the victim to accompany him to Malka Hans on his bike. The victim initially refused but he was made to sit on the bike by another suspect.

According to the FIR, the victim resisted but was threatened with a pistol and taken to the third suspect’s house in Malka Hans where the three suspects raped him and recorded it on a mobile phone. The perpetrators later dropped the victim at his home, warning him not to tell anyone or face consequences.

A week later, the suspects began blackmailing him, demanding money with threats to make the video viral. The boy was raped multiple times by the suspects and he gave them Rs80,000.

The victim told police that he had to steal from his father’s wallet and sold his mobile phone to meet their demands. When he could no longer fulfill their monetary demands, he told his father about it and a complaint was made to the City Police.

Speaking to Dawn over the phone, the father disclosed that the gang had exploited many children. He asked the parents of other children to come forward as the gang had videos of more than two dozen children.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

At breaking point
Updated 20 Jan, 2025

At breaking point

The country’s jails serve as monuments to bureaucratic paralysis rather than justice.
Lower growth
20 Jan, 2025

Lower growth

THE IMF has slightly marked down its previous growth forecast for Pakistan’s economy from 3.2pc to 3pc for the...
Nutrition challenge
20 Jan, 2025

Nutrition challenge

WHEN a country’s children go hungry, its future withers. In Pakistan, where over 40pc of children under five are...
Kurram conundrum
Updated 19 Jan, 2025

Kurram conundrum

If terrorists and sectarian groups — regardless of their confessional affiliations — had been neutralised earlier, we would not be at this juncture today.
EV policy
19 Jan, 2025

EV policy

IT is pleasantly surprising that the authorities are moving with such purpose to potentially revolutionise...
Varsity woes
19 Jan, 2025

Varsity woes

GIVEN that most bureaucrats in our country are not really known for contributions to pedagogical excellence, it ...