Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a suspect involved in the assault and attempted murder of an eight-year-old girl in Mansehra’s Battal area.

According to an official, the police arrested a suspect identified by the victim, who had gone missing a day before the incident.

Battal Station House Officer (SHO) Shujat Hussain told Dawn.com: “On March 19, the victim’s father complained about his missing eight-year-old daughter, which led us to conduct a search operation.

“We found her injured and unconscious the next day — March 20 — at a place where she was dumped under rocks,” he said.

The official said the police had shifted the girl to the hospital, where she regained consciousness after four days.

“Based on the girl’s account, we continued our investigation until we caught the suspect identified by the victim,” Hussain said.

According to the SHO, the accused had been arrested and he confessed to the crime in his initial statement.

The official added that the victim, in her statement, said that she was taken to the mountains from her home by the suspect who tempted her with snacks.

He then attempted to assault her, however, he was deterred by her screams, which led him to push her off the cliff.

“The suspect had dumped the injured girl under the rocks, however, she survived and was luckily found alive,” SHO Hussain said, adding that the victim’s survival had led them to reach the suspect.

After investigating, and on the advice of the public prosecutor, the police have added more sections to the first information report (FIR) against the accused.

An FIR was lodged under sections 376 (punishment for rape), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for a shorter term), 365 (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage etc.) and 337 (Shajjah, intentionally causing hurt) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and sections 53 and 37 (child sexual abuse) of the Child Protection and Welfare Act (CPWA).

Last week, a 14-year-old eighth-grader was found dead on campus in Mansehra, prompting the police to start an investigation.

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 last 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.