TOBA TEK SINGH: City police on Tuesday arrested a van driver for repeatedly raping a minor student.

According to the FIR registered under Section 377 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of Asad Mukhtar of Chak 491-JB, Waryamwala, the 60-year-old suspect would pick and drop the victim, a Class-V student, to and from the school.

The complainant, who is uncle of the victim, said he got alarmed when his minor orphan nephew started behaving weirdly and stopped talking about his studies and other activities in the school.

Mukhtar said when he visited the school, the principal told him that his nephew had not been attending the school for the last 13 days and his name was struck off.

Mukhtar said he immediately made a call to the van driver on his mobile phone to inquire about his nephew. The driver told him that his van had broken down and he was getting it repaired at a workshop on Gojra Road.

The complainant said when he went to the place, he found the van parked off the road behind trees, and the driver was attempting to rape his minor nephew.

The boy told his uncle that instead of dropping him at the school the suspect would take him to various places and rape him for the last 13 days.

Following the complaint, the city police took the suspect in custody.

District police spokesperson Attaullah told reporters that both the suspect and the child had been taken to the district headquarters hospital for their medical examination.

HUNGER STRIKE: A kiln worker announced hunger strike till death on Tuesday, demanding officially fixed wages for making bricks.

Kiln workers had been staging a sit-in for the last four days at the Shahbaz Chowk, against lower wages and in protest against a local official of provincial labour welfare department, but of no avail. On Tuesday, their leader Muhammad Shabbir announced “hunger strike till death”, warning that in case of his death during the protest the district administration should be held responsible.

The protesting workers also burnt an effigy of labour welfare department assistant director for not enforcing the official wages as per Punjab government’s notification issued on July 1 under which they should be paid Rs1,110 for making 1,000 bricks.

Former PML-N MPA Mian Muhammad Rafiq visited the sit-in camp to show solidarity with the kiln workers

DIES: A motorcyclist died and his friend injured when a van hit their bike on Pirmahal-Kamalia road near Adda Wahgi.

Police said Ghulam Qadir died on the spot after a van coming from Pirmahal hit his bike.

His friend was critically wounded and was admitted to Pirmahal THQ hospital.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2018