RAWALPINDI: The alleged sexual assault of a teenager sparked protests on Sunday, with a large number of residents blocking traffic on Adiala Road and demanding that the police apprehend the suspects.

Residents protested, set tyres on fire and chanted slogans against the police.

The child’s father, a resident of Dhamial, said his 14-year-old son was on his way to a coaching academy at 6:30pm on Saturday when he was abducted by two men on a motorcycle.

He said his son was held at gunpoint and assaulted by the abductors. In the FIR, he said the victim was left in a nearby street and the abductors threatened to kill his family if he told anyone what had happened.

“My son was terrified when he came home and narrated his ordeal. The accused persons also made a video of him to blackmail him,” the complainant said in the FIR.

After the victim’s father lodged a police complaint, the police took the victim to a hospital for a medical examination, after which a case was registered against him.

Superintendent of Police Saddar Circle Iftikharul Haq said one of the suspects identified in the FIR had been captured, while police raids were ongoing to nab the other suspect.

He said the other suspect’s mobile phone had been switched off because he was in hiding, but hoped that he would be arrested soon.

The protesters had dispersed on Sunday, after protesting for over two hours, when senior police officials told them that one of the suspects had been apprehended and the other would be arrested soon.

However, they gathered again after evening prayers.

The victim’s father told Dawn he was trying to convince the protesters who had gathered on Adiala Road again after Maghrib prayers to call off the protest.

He said the suspect who had been arrested was a labourer while the second suspect was a college student who was yet to be apprehended.

Attempted rape case registered

Police are searching was a suspect who allegedly attempted to sexually assault a child in the Saddar Barooni police area, police said on Sunday.

An Adiala Road resident, in a complaint registered with the Saddar Barooni police on Saturday, said his seven-year-old daughter was playing outside their house at 6pm on Jan 4 when an unidentified individual led her towards a garbage dump on the other side of the street.

He said he had come out of his house and seen his daughter being abducted by an individual, and heard his daughter screaming after she was beaten by the suspect.

The complainant said he began shouting at the suspect, and upon seeing people coming towards the area, the suspect fled.

The victim’s father said he did not lodge a formal complaint with the police at the time because of the social stigma.

He said when he daughter did not go back to school the principal contacted him to ask him why his daughter had been absent.

He said he was advised by the principal to lodge a case to ensure the suspect is arrested.

When contacted, SP Haq confirmed that the victim’s father did not lodge an FIR soon after the attempted assault, he said the father had said he did not want to make the incident public because of social stigma.

SP Haq said the police visited the victim’s father, and took the victim to a hospital for a medical examination that did not find evidence of assault.

A case has been registered on the charges of attempted rape, and the police have launched a search for the suspect, he said.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2018