The Mandi Bahauddin police on Monday registered a first information report (FIR) against a group of men accused of raping a young boy while filming the assault.

According to information received by DawnNewsTV, the incident had occurred in February 2018, but was not reported by the boy — who was 17 at the time — or his family as the men had been threatening to release the video of the rape on social media.

According to the FIR, the main accused and his accomplices had taken the young man to a deserted area of the Kot Baloch area of Mandi Bahauddin. The young man was then raped while being filmed.

Hearing the boy scream, his father and cousin — who had already been searching for him — came to the deserted area where the crime was taking place. The culprits fled the scene when they heard the two men approaching.

The boy and his family decided to remain silent about the incident, in hopes of "maintaining their respect in the locality".

According to the FIR, the group then repeatedly extorted money from the victim and his family by holding the video over their head.

However, last week, the gang released the video on social media and according to the FIR, many people in the town had seen it "as it went viral".

The FIR has been registered under Section 292 A, 377 and 367 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Section 292 A of the PPC deals with exposing children to seduction. Section 377 deals with unnatural offences and Section 367 deals with kidnapping with the intent to subject a person to grave harm.

No arrests have been made so far; however, the district police officer of the area said that the police is searching for the culprits and they will be severely punished once found.