Dawn reported that the minor had gone missing in Shafiq Colony, Block-22, F.B Area at around 6.30pm on Thursday. The family did not file a complaint with the police but chose to make announcements from local mosques within a few hours of the abduction.
The report added that at about 12.30 am, residents of the area apprehended a person who was carrying something wrapped in a bedsheet. "They held the man down and found the body of the boy wrapped in the cloth."
Instead of informing the police, the people reportedly held a jirga to settle the matter. However, a police officer who lived in the same area called the police. The police rushed to the spot and took custody of the body and suspect. The body was sent to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities at around 1.30 am.
The doctors also told the investigators that the boy had been subjected to criminal assault.
Meanwhile, the police have registered a case against the suspect on the complaint of the minor's father for rape and murder. The newspaper reported that during the initial probe, the suspect 'admitted to raping and killing the child, but thereafter retracted his statement'.
SHO Shaharyar added that the police had obtained information from the area, which revealed that the arrested man had been involved in similar cases in the past.
Boys more vulnerable to sexual violence
Official statistics over the past two-and-a-half year reveal that boys are more vulnerable to sexual and other forms of violence than girls.
As per statistics collected by Naya Daur from the Ministry of Human Rights under the Right of Access to Information Act 2017, a total of 543 child abuse cases were reported in the past two-and-a-half years; of which 400 boys age between five to 15 year and 143 girls age between four to 10 years stood victim of child abuses.
The ratio of violence against boys is 73 percent while 26 percent of girls were victims of sexual and child abuse during the respective period.
Sexual abuse, corporal punishment, child marriages, child labor, beggary, and psychological tortures are some major abuses that were committed against children.
Similarly, Sahil, a non-profit organisation working for the rights of children, in the 2019 report states that at least eight children are abused per day in Pakistan. It states that children are most vulnerable to abuse in the age group 6-15 years, adding that the number of cases of male victims reported was much higher than that of girls.
The major crime categories mentioned in the Sahil report are 778 abductions, 405 missing children, 348 sodomy cases, 279 rape cases, 210 attempted rapes, 205 gang sodomy and 115 gang rape. A total of 104 cases of child marriages were also recorded during 2019.
Year-wise break up
In year-wise break up, 108 cases of violence against children were reported in the first six months of 2020; of which 60 boys age between five to 15 and 48 girls age between four to 10 were ‘stood victim’ of child abuse. The ratio of violence against boys remained higher than girls in the first half of 2020, the statistics reveal.
According to the SSDO report, a non-profit organisation working for women and children's rights, covering the period of January to June 2020, violence against children has increased by 4 percent in Pakistan.
The report claims that the voices of children remain absent from research records and databases, hence the issue is never truly addressed in legislation and the policy development process with no solid grounds for key decision-making.