A man was arrested for allegedly attempting to rape his 11-year-old niece in Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin district, police said on Sunday.

According to the first information report (FIR) of the incident, filed on behalf of the victim’s aunt and a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the suspect attempted to rape the victim in a room. When her aunt sent someone to look for the child, they heard her screams.

“The suspect was found attempting to sexually assault the child but fled as soon as he saw someone coming,” the FIR added.

Upon receiving information about the incident, District Police Officer (DPO) Ahmad Mohiuddin took notice, ordered a case to be registered against the suspect for attempting to rape the young girl, and instructed the Malikwal Circle deputy superintendent of police (DSP) to submit a report.

In response to the complaint, DSP Malikwal Ghulam Jafar sent out police raiding teams and established roadblocks throughout the area. The police team managed to arrest the suspect.

According to police sources, the victim identified the suspect. Her initial medical report from a government hospital also showed signs of attempted sexual assault.

The police said that further investigations were under way.

Earlier this month, two men were arrested in Mandi Bahauddin for allegedly sexually abusing a disabled minor boy, filming him, and uploading a video of the assault to social media, according to the police.

Despite the presence of strict anti-rape laws in the country, which could result in the death penalty or imprisonment lasting from ten to twenty-five years, incidents of sexual assault continue across the country.

Data compiled by the non-governmental organisation Sahil shows that 11 children were abused every day in 2023, with mostly acquaintances and relatives involved in the heinous act.

The statistics were reported in ‘Cruel Numbers 2023,’ a signature publication of the NGO working for the welfare of children, which launched at the end of February with the support of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

The geographical divide statistics show that out of the total 4,213 reported cases, 75 per cent were reported from Punjab, 13pc cases from Sindh, 7pc cases from Islamabad capital territory, 3pc cases from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and 2pc cases from Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).