Sept 6, 2024
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE:
A court in Gujranwala on Friday, September 6, remanded in police custody for six days a man accused of raping five teenaged girls at a non-formal literacy centre. The shocking sexual exploitation of girls at the school has caused a wave of concern in Pakistan.
The suspect is the husband of a teacher at the government non-formal basic education school in Saleem Colony of Gujranwala city in the Punjab province. The couple lived in the upper portion of the school building allegedly where the incidents of sexual exploitation occurred over time.
The suspect ran a canteen in the school, and allegedly used explicit videos and pictures to coerce and silence the victims, aged between 11 to 14 years.
The incident came to light when a victim disclosed the exploitation to her parents, who lodged a police case. “On September 4, police came to know about the incidents of rape of schoolgirls at a non-formal literacy centre,” Ayyaz Saleem, the city police officer (CPO), said.
The police took immediate action and arrested the lone suspect identified as Muhammad Imran, he said. “A mobile phone of the suspect was seized that contained explicit pictures and videos of the girl victims.” Saleem said the medical examination of the victims had been conducted by the doctors at the Gujranwala District Headquarters Hospital.
“The initial medical examination confirmed the rape of three girls and attempted rape on two other victims,” he revealed.
The medical reports and samples have been sent for forensic tests, the CPO said. “The suspect has also confessed to his crimes,” he added. Police said the suspect’s cell phone was sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory in Lahore to carry out a forensic analysis of pictures and videos found in it.
Five cases were registered against him on charges of rape and child pornography on complaints of families of the victims. The first information reports (FIRs) registered with the Saddar police station have been lodged under sections 376 (iii) [Rape with minor] and 292 (C) [relating to pornography] of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The suspect was brought to a local court amid tight security. The prosecution requested the court to grant remand of the suspect for eight days but the judge put the suspect on remand for six days. He will appear before the court next on September 15.
The provincial government suspended two teachers from service and temporarily closed the school. The Literacy & Non-Formal Basic Education Department constituted a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the rape incidents at the school. The committee was directed to submit an inquiry report within 24 hours.
NCRC seeks report from Gunjranwala police
The National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC) also took notice of the alleged rape of girl students in Gujranwala. “In accordance with our mandate under section 15(e) of the NCRC Act, 2017, we request you to thoroughly investigate the matter and furnish the comprehensive report along with all relevant documents within 15 days to proceed further in this matter,” NCRC member Mehek Naeem wrote in a letter to the Gujranwala City Police Officer.
No safeguards and oversight in NFE schools: Baela Jamil
The incident in Gujranwala highlighted a lack of oversight on the part of the provincial government towards preventing the exploitation of children admitted to non-formal literacy schools.
The non-formal education schools are informal and have mixed governance structures with little or no safeguarding rules and capacity, said Baela Jamil, an education protection and child rights activist. “Child rights are violated at scale in the country which has 26 million out-of-school children,” she told Voicepk.net, adding that tragically, even children are not safe in schools too.
She urged the NCRC chairperson Ayesha Raza and the Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to form a high-level committee to probe the lack of oversight and safety mechanisms. “Unsafe education for girls and boys means a even lower enrolment and inability to reach the UN millennium development goals,” she pointed out.
The child rights activist said no safeguarding structures principles are signed with the Non-Formal Education partners who have not even been imparted training. “There must be an independent safeguarding child protection committee that regularly conducts a sample survey of NFE centres led by both the NCRC and the Education Ministry team,” Jamil added.