Girl fled floods in Shikarpur, but could not escape sexual predators in Karachi

A ten year old internally displaced person was raped multiple times by unidentified sexual assailants in Karachi’s upscale area of Clifton, police and medical officers confirmed on Monday.

According to Clifton SP Ahmed Faisal Chaudhry, a 10-year-old resident of Shikarpur had traveled to Karachi along with her family to escape the floods.

The family, SP Chaudhry said, were homeless and had taken up makeshift residence on a footpath near Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine in Clifton.

Based on what they were told by the victim’s mother, they used to make ends meet by seeking alms from passersby and visitors at the shrine apart from dining at the open kitchen operated near the shrine by philanthropists.

Chaudhry said that that the girl’s family, who only spoke Sindhi, told them that the girl had been abducted by unidentified people travelling in a vehicle near the shrine and later dumped her in an abandoned place near the shrine.

When the family found her dumped in an unconscious state , they rushed her to the hospital.

At the Jinnah Hospital on Monday, Lady Police Surgeon Dr Sumaiya said that the girl’s parents brought her to the emergency ward in an unconscious state suffering from an unidentified affliction.

During the subsequent examination, Dr Sumaiya said, they found that the 10-year-old girl had been raped multiple times.

The police have registered the case and included sections related to rape, on the complaint of the girl’s father.

DNA samples have been obtained from the victim and sent to the forensic lab. Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation.

According to data from the National Police Bureau submitted to the National Assembly, some 4,637 cases of rape (4,377) and gang rape (260) were reported in Pakistan during 2019. This figure fell to 4,133 cases in 2020 – at a time when the country faced multiple lockdowns due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic – for rape (3,887) and gang rapes (246), while 2,390 cases were reported in 2021, including rapes (2,253) and gang rapes (137).

Rapes in Pakistan

Pakistan’s law has declared rape a non-compundable offence. The definition and punishment for this crime have been detailed under Sections 375 and 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the law, a man commits rape when he has sexual intercourse with a woman under the following circumstances:

Against her will and without her consent

With her consent, when the consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt. With her consent, when the man knows that he is not married to her and that the consent is given because she believes that the man is another person to whom she is or believes herself to be married; or With or without her consent when she is under 16 years of age.

The convicted rapists will be sentenced to jail for no less than 10 years or more than 25 years, according to the law. A fine will also be imposed on them.

Harassment in Pakistan

If you or anyone you know is a survivor of online harassment, then you can contact the following organisations:

Punjab Commission on the Status of Women- 1043

FIA cybercrime wing- report the complaint at [email protected] or [email protected]

Madadgaar Toll-Free Helpline- 1098

Digital Rights Foundation’s Cyber Harassment Toll-Free Helpline- 0800-39393 Sahil Toll-Free helpline- 0800-13518

Pakistan Citizen portal