DERA GHAZI KHAN: Punjab Police arrested three suspects for allegedly gang-raping minors and filming the acts in Dera Ghazi Khan on Monday.
It had been revealed that objectionable videos had gone viral on the internet after some schoolchildren of Jampur area were allegedly gang-raped in the Dera Ghazi Khan region.
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Faisal Rana took notice and arrested three suspects for sexual violence against minors, recording objectionable videos of the victims and making them viral on the internet.
Police teams were formed to arrest other gang members and facilitators of the crime.
According to the police report, the suspects who were members of a gang of five persons operating in Jampur area of Rajanpur district in DG Khan region made objectionable videos from their mobile phones during the gang rape of minors who studied in Government High School, Jampur. They also made the objectionable videos viral on the internet.
Reportedly the alleged rapists also blackmailed the schoolchildren into silence.
When the matter came to his notice, the RPO formed a special team of police officers led by Rajanpur DPO Faisal Gulzar. The police team secretly tracked down the five-member gang and managed to arrest three of the suspects including Sohail, Farooq and Rawal alias Diwan.
Mobile phones used by the alleged rapists were also seized from their possession. The objectionable videos of children who had been gang-raped by the arrested suspects were being retrieved, the police said.
The RPO told The Express Tribune that it was also being ascertained whether the gang was linked to any international criminal groups operating on the ‘dark web’. “We are also trying to contact the families of the children subjected to sexual abuse by the suspects, to request for their possible involvement as plaintiffs in legal proceedings, with an assurance of police protection.”
However, if the affected families do not want to come forward due to social pressure, the police will become the plaintiff, the RPO affirmed. “I will personally oversee the entire process, including the investigation, and a follow-up report will be taken from the Rajanpur DPO on a daily basis.” Incidents of sexual violence where victims are filmed are not uncommon in the province.
On December 24 last year, a transgender person was gang-raped and filmed in Chunian.
Footage of the transgender person being mercilessly beaten went viral, sparking uproar with netizens calling for action against the culprits.
The victim could be seen tied upside down from the ceiling and being beaten with sticks by some men as she pleads with them to stop.
The victim told police that some people had called them to perform at a function. However, she was subjected to gang rape for three days by the suspects. On October 3, an 18-year-old girl was gang-raped after being blackmailed over an indecent video in Khanpur.
Four men recorded an ‘inappropriate’ video of the victim and demanded Rs90,000 to delete the footage.
The victim reached the spot to hand over the money but was abducted and raped for seven days.
Newspaper: Express Tribune
