Shangla police on Thursday arrested one of two suspects accused of raping an 11-year-old boy and filming a compromised video of him that went viral on WhatsApp, police said.

Shangla District Police Officer (DPO) Imran Khan told Dawn.com, “One of the two suspects had been arrested and efforts were underway to arrest the other one.”

Police arrested the suspect who had recorded the video and recovered his mobile phone that was used to film the incident, which occurred in the Naredary area of Alpuri.

Police came to know of the incident after the video surfaced on WhatsApp groups, after which they lodged a first information report (FIR) on February 17 and initiated an inquiry into the case.

According to the FIR, the complainant told police that he was on his way home with the suspects when they took turns sexually abusing him while filming his ordeal.

Police lodged the FIR under section 376-34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (punishment for rape) and section 48-53 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act.

The sections include punishment for child pornography, inciting a child to bet or borrow, exposure to seduction, abetting the escape of a child, child trafficking, and sexual abuse.

Further interrogation into the case has also begun, police said.

Alpuri Station House Officer (SHO) Mohammad Arif Khan told Dawn.com that police were conducting raids in different areas to apprehend the suspect who was still at large.

SHO Khan said the arrested suspect had confessed to his crime, while the police had recovered the mobile phone from his possession in which the video was still stored.

A similar incident occurred in Alpuri in December last year when two neighbours assaulted a nine-year-old boy and filmed the act. Police had arrested both accused.

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 collected by the non-governmental organisation Sahil revealed that a total of 1,630 cases of child abuse were reported from across the country in the first six months of 2024.

The statistics included 862 cases of child sexual abuse, 668 cases of abduction, 82 cases of missing children and 18 cases of child marriages. In the six months, 48 cases of pornography after sexual abuse were also recorded.