Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan on Monday arrested four individuals in a case involving a viral video wherein suspects were involved in the harassment of a teenage girl.

The action was taken on KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s instructions after the incident was highlighted by journalists.

“A video of a young girl had gone viral on TikTok in which the girl was being harassed by men while she was dancing at a private event,” Mardan police spokesperson Muhammad Faheem Khan said.

He added that the Mardan police took prompt action and arrested four people.

“The men physically harassed the victim, who was used to be sent to private parties by her relatives.”

The police spokesperson said that after the video went viral on TikTok, journalists including Asad Ali Toor brought up the issue with the KP chief minister, who then ordered the Mardan District Police Officer (DPO) Zahoor Babar Afridi to take action.

“The girl’s grandmother and close relatives are among the arrested individuals, who used to send the teenage girl to private dance events for the sake of money.”

Khan said that a first information report has been lodged at the City police station and further invetigation into the case is underway.

Separately, DPO Afridi asked citizens in a statement to keep watch on their children and protect them from getting involved in such immoral activities.

“Public should report incidents like exploitation of children and abuse to the police” the statement quoted him as saying.

As many as 3,364 child abuse cases were reported from across the country last year, according to a civil society report. The report Cruel Numbers 2024 by Sahil was prepared based on data collected from 81 national and regional newspapers across the country.

“The objective of the report is to present the data on the situation regarding violence against children (up to 18 years) in cases of sexual abuse, abduction/kidnapping, missing children, and child marriages,” the report stated.

Last month, the Punjab Police said they arrested a man suspected of molesting a minor girl in Multan district after a video of the incident went viral online.

Also, last month, police arrested a man after footage showing him allegedly molesting a minor girl in Punjab’s Kasur district went viral online.