KASUR: Chunian police on Tuesday recovered the bodies of three minors, who seem to have been killed after rape, from sand dunes near Chunian bypass.

Four children — aged between eight and 12 years — had gone missing since June with the latest, Faizan, 8, disappearing on Monday night. Faizan is the son of prayer leader Muhammad Ishaq of Pir Jahanian village in Chunian. Police registered a case against unidentified kidnappers.

Before Faizan, Muhammad Imran, 12, of Rana Town went missing on June 3, while Ali Husnain, 9; and Suleman Akram, 8, of Ghausiabad had gone missing on Aug 8 and 17, respectively.

Locals fear boys were killed after rape

On Tuesday, some labourers informed police about a body in a ditch. Later, the police recovered remains of two more minors from the sand dunes. According to some witnesses, the two bodies had reduced to skeletons.

A wave of shock and terror gripped Chunian when the police recovered the bodies.

Locals suspected a racket was behind the killing of minor boys after rape.

One of the bodies was identified as that of Faizan, while the remains were believed to be of Ali and Suleman. Police were yet to find any clue to the whereabouts of Imran.

District Police Officer (DPO) Abdul Ghaffar Qaisarani along with a heavy contingent of police reached the spot and cordoned off the area while the forensics experts collected evidence.

The DPO told Dawn that he had constituted five teams to trace the culprits, adding that the police would use all resources to nab the killers.

He also said that rape would be confirmed after a medical report was issued. However, the possibility of murder after rape could not be ruled out. He denied the presence of any racket.

On Monday, the residents of Chunian had staged a protest against the police for its failure to recover the missing boys.

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has taken notice of the incident and sought a report from the Punjab inspector general of police. He also demanded the killers be traced at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the civil society has given a call for protest on Wednesday (today) against the killing of the minors, to express concern over lawlessness and failure of police to protect the lives of people. A procession would start from Muhammad Khan Masjid and culminate at Kutchehry Chowk.

In the last few years, Kasur has been rocked by multiple incidents of abuse, rape and killing of children. In January 2018, six-year-old Zainab Ansari was found dead in a trash heap near Shahbaz Khan Road, five days after she went missing. Hers was the 12th such incident to have occurred within a 10-kilometre radius in Kasur over a 12-month period. Her death had sparked nationwide protests and outrage.

The prime suspect, Imran Ali, had been arrested on Jan 23, 2018, and on June 12 the Supreme Court had turned down his appeal against the death sentence, noting that he had admitted to committing similar offences with eight other minor victims. Ali was subsequently executed in October.

In 2015, Kasur’s Hussain Khanwala village had attracted worldwide attention when a child pornography ring was busted. Hundreds of video clips had emerged showing a gang forcing dozens of minor boys and girls to perform sexual acts and filming them. The gang had also used the videos to blackmail families of the children and extorted millions in cash and jewellery from them.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2019