Special Report by Javed Mahmood/LAHORE
Every day the new hair-raising disclosures about the mega sex scam of a village Hussain Khanwala in Kasur district, near Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, are exposing the nastiness of a gang of sex abusers, traditional negligence of the police that prolonged this cruelty for years and habitual denial of the PML(N) Ministers and leaders at the beginning indicate that the sex abuse scam of dozens of the children is, in fact, a balatkar of the good governance of the Punjab government and ruling party PML(N) that are ruling the Pakistan’s largest province for the last seven consecutive years, since 2008.
When the media exposed this mega scam a few days ago, the Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sanaullah was the first PML(N) Minister who denied the scandal and tried to link it with land dispute, but leakage of videos of the brutalities of the gangsters, interviews and media statements of the victims and their family members finally forced the PML(N) leaders to lick the dust and admit that the tragedy was the result of the laxity of the police and vindictiveness of a gang.
Credit goes to the mighty electronic and print media of Pakistan that went to every length to uncover the faces of the devils, corrupt and politicized police and raised the voice of the victims who have paid a very heavy price of the devilish deeds of the gangsters.
On the one hand the victims have faced inhuman behavior of the molesters and on the other, they (victims and their parents) have been blackmailed repeatedly by the gangsters since 2009.
A few years ago, the mother of a victim of sex abuse, reported the matter to the police, but the SHO of the concerned police station proved to be the informer of the molesters and he informed them about the complaint. Resultantly, the gang of molesters thrashed the woman publically that harassed the other victims, their family members and thus the devils continued their nasty mission with more vigour and fear.
If we look at newspapers, the Punjab province seems to be an ideal province in the country where everything appears in order and in a prescribed disciplined, but when we look at ground reality, we find the same years old rotten culture, politicized police, tilted administration, bureaucracy, no rule for the rulers and all kinds of bad governance that we are seeing for the past several years.
The recent worst-ever sex abuse scandal of Kasur also speaks volumes about the governance system of Khaadm-e-Aal in Punjab, police and administration’s lethargic attitude towards common people.
It also exposes the tall and hollow claims of Sharifs and PML(N) regarding revolutionary changes in the culture of Punjab province that hosts 56 percent (over 12 million people) population of the country.
At present in bad governance and poverty the Punjab province appears on top of other provinces. In the past we have blamed the PPP for recklessly running the province, but targeted operations of Rangers and Police have improved the governance, law and order in Sindh, especially in Karachi, the mega city of Pakistan.
The main accused in Kasur sex scam gave a new twist to the most abhorable incident by admitting that he used to be present when the sex abuse crimes were committed and filmed in a classroom of the academy where he and those captured in the vidoes used to study.
Media reports suggested that the accused had confessed to their crime and the only development was the arrest of another accused, Usman. Six others, including the main accused, Haseem Amir, were arrested on Thursday.
Police said 15 accused have been nominated in seven different FIRs and raids are being conducted to arrest another two accused while the remaining were on bail.
Interestingly, six of the sex abuse scandal characters are in their early 20s and the seventh, Abdul Mannan, says he is just 14 years old.
The main accused Haseem, 25, said he was innocent because none of the films seized by police showed him indulging in any abuse. When asked whether he used to film the child abuse, he said he used to sit in the classroom where his classmates had been committing crimes.
He claimed that he and others had been implicated in the case because some people wanted to grab 16.50 acres of land his family had purchased.
The villagers, victims and their relatives who said they had kept quiet because of fear and shame were now openly talking about what they called the brazen deeds of the accused. There was no more fear of the accused or shame as they were readily giving details of the events.
The fear was no more there because of one Mubin Ghaznavi, reportedly a former Jamaat-i-Islami worker who continued to urge the victims and their families to stick to their allegations. Two lawyers – Latif Sohra from Lahore and Chaudhry Munir – were also seen in the village and were reportedly supporting the victims, Dawn.com reported on Monday.
Some people, including Lambardar Saifullah, alleged that the JI man and the two lawyers were after the 16.50 acres of irrigated land which the family of the principal accused known as Karmoo group had purchased. But they could not satisfy many as to how one could ask people to say that they had been sodomised for settling the score.
The allegation was that Mobin wanted some NGOs to build a school and other facilities for villagers on the land and lawyer Chaudhry Munir was with him. Mubin and the two lawyers denied that they were supporting the villagers. Mubin said the accused were his relatives and he was angry because they had also abused children of their own family. Latif Sohra claimed that the victims had visited them in Lahore for legal help and he engaged his friend Chaudhry Munir for assistance.
“Look at the abused youngsters. Can one make them confess to an act which will haunt them all their lives,” Mubin said.
He said police and those supporting the accused were levelling such allegations to confuse the issue. The government should impartially look into the matter, he added.
The Karmoo group, it is alleged, had the backing of people mostly in government departments and courts.
Mubin said he had nearly 150 clips of the child abuse. Young girls were also assaulted, “but we are not sharing their clips to save their families from ignominy. Police have much more but they are trying to marginalise the issue,” he claimed. He said the father, brothers and uncles of the principal accused also used to abuse children.
Haseem claimed in the lockup that police had one clip showing the rape of a girl. But he said the victims were also abusing each other.
Women and their young relatives felt no hesitation in telling their side of the story. One Amna said his brother Abdul Mannan had been kidnapped at gunpoint by Haseem when he was seven. He was taken to Haseem’s haveli, intoxicated and abused by him and others. The scene was filmed for blackmailing. “We have given them a total of Rs800,000 on different occasions.”
Danish Ali, 18, a student of Lahore’s National College of Arts, said he had been picked when he was nine. He repeated the allegations and said the accused used to extort money from him till recently by threatening to release the clips. He would also be forced to abuse children picked by Haseem in the meantime.
And as the villagers, including women and the victims, were sticking to their claims, none of them could quote even a single incident in which a victim was found injured or sick after the criminal assault by more than one man.
“We were silenced. I was hurt but I would not tell anyone for fear of my life and safety of my family. They also used to make me entice more children for abuse,” one of them said.
And there was a story to tell how the alleged racket was exposed. According to the villagers, Haseem gave his mobile phone to a cousin while playing volleyball and the cousin who knew about the crime stole his memory card. Clips from the memory card went around in the village and to those who dared seek justice, they said.
They said the RPO had come to Ganda Singhwala a month ago and constituted an investigation team under the SP investigation but it never completed its report. Had it been done, the matter would not have been agitated with so much force, they said.
According to them, 400 to 500 children were abused.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered on Sunday a judicial inquiry into the matter. He was to visit the village on Sunday morning, but he had to cancel his trip because of security reasons.
Sunday was the day for political leaders to express solidarity with the victims and families. However, no MPA or MNA visited the village.
Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq said the incident was the worst example of terrorism and barbarism and urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take sue motto notice. He also demanded a judicial commission on the matter and called for speedy trial of the accused.
He said that in view of the severity of the case, sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act should be included in the FIRs. He said a case registered against the villagers after a clash with police a few days age should be immediately withdrawn.
The JI chief said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should have visited Kasur to express sympathy with the victims’ families.
PTI leader Mahmoodur Rasheed also visited the village and demanded a speedy trial of the case and exemplary punishment for the accused. He accused police of protecting the accused.
Jahan Arra, daughter of PPP leader Manzoor Watto, met the victims’ families and assured them that the matter would be raised at every platform. A team of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, which visited the village, said the child abuse case should be referred to a military court. Led by retired Maj Saeed and Nurullah Siddiqui, it said Punjab should be handed over to Rangers because the provincial government and its police had failed to protect life and honour of the people.
Anti-Terrorism Act included in FIRs against molesters
The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought a report from Advocate General Punjab Naveed Rasool Mirza, Inspector General Police Punjab Mushtaq Sukhera and Home Secretary Punjab Azam Suleman to examine that the Kasur child abuse case can be tried in an anti-terrorism court or not.
A petition filed by Advocate Aftab Ahmed Bajwa in the LHC on Monday was heard by LHC Chief Justice Manzoor Ahmed. The petition stated that since the case is of a serious nature, it should be tried in an ATC.
The report will describe what sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act ─ in particular, Section 7 of the ATA, “Punishment for acts of terrorism” ─ are applicable to the case in order to decide whether the case can be tried in an ATC.
Police have contacted victims’ families to inform them that Section 7/ATA has been included in the seven First Information Reports lodged against the accused. The LHC CJ ordered the SP Investigation and SHOs to present the report in a hearing which is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Reports of the sexual abuse of about 280 children have shocked the country. Most of the victims who are from Husain Khanwala village near Kasur are less than 14-years-old. The victims were sexually abused and filmed by members of a gang. Their families had also been blackmailed by the gang since 2009.
Four more complainants: Relatives of four more victims have come forward to register their complaints in the child abuse scandal. An application was filed by family members claiming that the victims had been abused at gunpoint.
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