A minor girl was allegedly raped by her stepfather at their residence in Islamabad earlier this month, the girl's mother has alleged.

A First Information Report (FIR) of the incident has been registered under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code at Women's Police Station in the capital on the mother's complaint.

A medical examination of the child is being conducted.

The woman, who is a domestic worker, stated in her complaint that she has three young daughters from her marriage to her first husband.

She said she married her second and current husband six years ago and has been living at his residence in Muslim Colony near Bari Imam along with her daughters.

According to the woman, one afternoon after returning from work, she found her 10-year-old daughter in a distressed state. Upon asking, the child revealed that she had been subjected to rape by her stepfather 15 days earlier.

After registration of the case, police arrested the suspect and obtained his two-day physical remand from a local court.

Rise in child abuse cases

A report released by NGO Sahil in April revealed that reported cases of child abuse increased by 11 per cent in the year 2018 compared to 2017, with more than 10 children suffering some form of abuse every day in Pakistan last year.

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The report, titled 'Cruel Numbers 2018', found that a total of 3,832 child abuse cases were reported by newspapers in all four provinces as well as Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. In comparison, 3,445 such incidents were reported from January to December 2017.

The report found that most of the perpetrators knew the family or the children and were ranked the highest in the list of abusers. Out of the total reported cases, there were 1,787 cases where the abusers were acquainted with the child or his/her family.