The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday acquitted three convicts serving life imprisonment in connection with the Kasur child abuse scandal that came to light in 2015.

The distressing scandal unfolded eight years ago in the village of Hussain Khanwala in Kasur. In the case, several suspects allegedly working as a gang had shot videos documenting the sexual abuse of at least 280 children. The criminals exploited their heinous acts by allegedly blackmailing parents, threatening to leak the videos unless they paid a ransom.

A two-member bench of the LHC, led by Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry, announced the verdict during the hearing of appeals filed by the accused challenging their life sentences in the case. Counsels Abid Hussain Kachi and Sohail Asghar Advocate represented the accused during the hearing today.

Speaking to Dawn.com, Abid Hussain Khichi — the lawyer representing the convicts — said the court has released his clients after accepting their pleas.

According to the counsel, a total of six primary suspects had been implicated in the case, with three having been released earlier, while the remaining three were acquitted today.

Providing insight into the grounds for his clients’ release, the lawyer asserted that the forensic examination of the video conducted by authorities failed to conclusively identify the men currently serving jail sentences.

Furthermore, he contended that certain sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act applied to the accused were not truly applicable, and the medical reports did not substantiate the presented evidence.

However, the awaited court order is crucial as it will serve as the official confirmation to the lawyer’s statement.

The police, who had conspicuously failed to act despite pleas from some parents, eventually made dozens of arrests after clashes between relatives and authorities brought the issue into the media spotlight.

In March 2016, the Senate also passed a bill that criminalised sexual assault against minors, child pornography and trafficking for the first time — previously only the acts of rape and sodomy were punishable by law.

Ganda Singhwala police of Kasur had later registered 29 cases against more than a dozen suspects on charges of abducting and sexually assaulting 280 children in the same district. The prosecution had accused them of sexually assaulting young boys and filming the incidents to blackmail their victims. Some were later released due to lack of evidence.

Subsequently in 2018, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore sentenced the three men to life in prison after finding them guilty.

The three men — Haseem Amir, Wasim Sindhi, and Aleem Asif — were handed punishments in one of the nine cases police had registered against them. ATC judge Chaudhry Muhammad Ilyas had also imposed a fine of Rs300,000 on each of the three convicts.

Ganda Singhwala police had registered a first information report against the three convicts and others on charges of abducting and sexually assaulting 280 children in Kasur. Most victims belonged to Husain Khanwala village.

It was reported that the accused had also been blackmailing the families of the boys since 2009 and even sold video clips of the assault.