MANSEHRA: Panelists at a workshop here on Wednesday asked the government to amend laws to stop settlement of child abuse cases by jirgas to ensure dispensation of justice to victims.

They also urged the police to make circumstantial evidence part of the probe into such cases to ensure punishment of culprits.

Sahil, a nongovernmental organisation working for children’s protection, had organised the workshop on ‘referral mechanism for child protection’ at a local hotel.

Experts say police should make circumstantial evidence part of probe

People from different parts of society, including lawyers, journalists, teachers, policemen, government employees and representatives of NGOs, attended the event in large numbers.

Sahil national programme manager Rizwana Akhtar told participants that it was the collective responsibility of society and law-enforcement agencies to act sincerely to check child abuse but unfortunately the jirga system and flawed police investigation had been causing increase in such cases.

She said molestation incidence had been on the rise over the years and that most of the child abuse victims i.e. 67 per cent were girls.

Another speaker, Safdar Nazir, said most of the people didn’t know about the types of child abuse.

He said children were abused physically and emotionally and by neglect.

Safdar said in most cases, people didn’t accept child abuse incidents as true and that the overall attitude of parents and society was to blame for increase in molestation cases.

Police Safety Commission member Gulnaz Shah, who was also in attendance, said most child abuse cases were based on wrong evidence and thus, helping abusers go scot-free.

“I have been dealing such cases for years and have witnessed that police investigators receive bribe from abusers and incorporate wrong evidence in the FIR. This helps abusers escape punishment and encourages others to commit the crime,” he said.

Another panelist, Mubarak Ahmad Qureshi, said jirgas, which took place in violation of the law, were a major cause of high child abuse incidence. He said by and large, abusers of children had influence over jirgas held for their trials and therefore, they escaped punishment.

The panelist urged the government to drastically change laws to ensure punishment of molesters.

On the occasion, deputy superintendent of police Zulfiqar Jadoon said two child abuse cases had been reported in the district during the last couple of years and all the culprits had been taken to justice.

He said the police were doing their best to ensure punishment of the children’s abusers.

STUDENT FOUND DEAD: A student was found dead outside his primary school in Khaki area on Wednesday.

The people took Umar Hussain Shah to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital but was pronounced dead by doctors.

Sajjad Hussain Shah told the police that his son, Umar Hussain Shah, went to the school in the morning but in the afternoon, someone told his wife that his son was lying unconscious outside the school. He said the people took his son to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

The police handed over the body to the family after autopsy at the Kath. They later began probe into the death. However, no arrests were made until night.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2014