SARGODHA: Another scam of sexual abuse of children has surfaced, this time in a local private school, where some teachers allegedly assaulted the students on the pretext of holding special classes during summer vacation.

Neither the police, nor the parents of the victims were ready to disclose details to the media of the incident that occurred in Urban Area police limits.

According to sources, the police were informed about the crime by the parents of some of the victims whose number was said to be seven.

The sources said police had so far arrested four teachers allegedly involved in the abuse, while the school principal was still at large.

Police refused to disclose details of the alleged abuse reported to them by the parents of victims.

The parents of the affected children also avoided to talk to the media, saying that they were passing through agony and did not want to make it public.

According to the father of an alleged victim of sexual abuse, who desired anonymity, the police strictly barred the parents from giving any statement to the media, threatening them that otherwise action would be taken against them (parents).

Abdul Hameed, who lives in a house near the school, said the institution remained partially open during summer vacation in violation of government orders but neither the education department nor the district administration took notice.

He said the teachers told the parents that their children were being called to the school during vacation for hifz-i-Quran; learning the holy book by heart.

The police are neither disclosing the identity of arrested teachers nor providing any information whether an FIR has been registered or not.

A police constable, however, told Dawn on condition of anonymity that FIR had been registered on the complaint of fathers of four of the victims and was sealed.

According to some locals, only seven children were asked to attend the classes at the school during the summer vacation.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2016