A madrassah teacher in Muzaffargarh district of Punjab was arrested for allegedly raping an 11-year-old student at a seminary, it emerged on Sunday.

Last year, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Sahil’s Six Months Cruel Numbers data revealed that a total of 1,630 cases of child abuse were reported from across the country.

In the first six months of 2024, 862 cases of child sexual abuse, 668 cases of abduction, 82 cases of missing children and 18 cases of child marriages were reported. 48 cases of pornography after sexual abuse were also recorded.

“A case has been registered against a madrassa teacher at the Mirhazar police station,” a police spokesperson said.

The spokesperson continued that the police took immediate action and arrested the suspect.

The first information report (FIR) was registered under Section 376(iii) (rape of a minor) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The teacher took the student to his residential room in the madrassa and raped the student twice, according to the FIR.

“A case was registered on the statement of the child’s mother,” the police spokesperson added.

Last month a 17-year-old girl died by suicide after she was allegedly raped and impregnated in Punjab’s Muzaffargarh, police had said.

Last month, police had also arrested five suspects for their alleged involvement in the gang rape of a child in Muzaffargarh, according to an official statement.