A four-year-old girl was raped by a man in Karachi’s Essa Nagri locality, police have said.
According to the first information report (FIR) of the case, the child used to go to a house in the locality for tuitions where the reported sexual assault took place.
Reports alleged that the child was raped by the brother of the teacher, who has been arrested by the police after locals staged a protest demanding the arrest of the suspect. An investigation into the matter is currently underway, as per the police.
The minor, who has survived the reported sexual assault, is with her family at present.
In April, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped in Karachi. The video of the sexual assault in Karachi’s Memon Goth went viral on social media, inciting deep outrage. Consequently, police officials had arrested four suspects and recorded their statements.
In Pakistan, rape cases are mostly not reported due to fear of stigma attached to them.
Recently, PM Imran Khan was the target of outrage after he linked rapes to “growing vulgarity”. He had said that rapes can be prevented through purdah [covering up], the Islamic concept of modesty.
The prime minister’s comments soon became the subject of condemnation by humans rights bodies and citizens, who were appalled that the premier linked criminal acts like rape and pedophilia to immodest clothing and media. Many pointed out that Imran Khan’s comments were irresponsible and shifted blame from the perpetrators to the victims of such violence.
