Child abuse accused in Pakistan to be tried under anti-terror laws

Pakistani demonstrators carry placards during a protest against a child sex abuse scandal in Karachi.

The police have added anti-terrorism charges against the accused held in the child abuse case in Kasur's Hussain Khan Wala village, about 40km from Lahore.
Five out of the 14 accused were produced before an anti-terrorism court in Lahore after expiry of their interim bail. The court remanded them to police custody for 28 days for interrogation.
Earlier, the court dismissed objection by the counsel of the accused to inclusion of anti-terrorism clauses against them on plea that it was not a case of terrorism. The ruling opens the way for possible trial of the accused in a military court as demanded by the parents.
Meanwhile, responding to mounting protest calls from media, politicians and civil society, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the massive child abuse and extortion scandal.
Amid considerable confusion still prevailing over the extent of the child abuse scandal, termed the biggest in the country's history, investigations held so far reveal that around 400 videos were made of 280 minor and teenaged victims by the organised gang of over 25 criminals in Hussain Khan Wala village.
Discarding earlier hesitation and reluctance, more parents and children are now coming forward to lodge complaints with the administration.
According to the commissioner Lahore division, a total of 30 complaints have been received while 14 accused identified on the videos have been arrested. They allegedly compelled, often at gunpoint, the victims to smile and portray it as consensual while being subjected to abuse. The issue of police failure to detect the crime of this scale or possible connivance for so long has also come to the fore. Acknowledging absence of effective legislation to curb child abuse, federal information and law minister Pervez Rashid told the National Assembly on Tuesday that some stringent legal measures are being contemplated.
Earlier on Monday night, speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq did not allow an adjournment motion on the issue to be moved in the House ruling it as a provincial matter.
The opposition parties including members of the Pakistan People's Party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement staged a protest walkout over the ruling.
The mover, PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, regretted the ruling saying another heinous act of massacre of Peshawar school children by the Taleban in December last year was admitted by the speaker for debate. "While the nation mourned the bloodbath in Peshawar, the present case is a matter of national shame and concern of massive proportion," he said.
Politicians and civil society representatives have been visiting the affected village ever since the case was highlighted by the media.
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