The Kasur case

The report by the federal ombudsman, which has now been sent to the president of Pakistan, stating that influential and wealthy persons were involved in the Kasur child sexual abuse case should make us all pay attention. The report states that politicians, feudal overlords and other people with power were exploiting impoverished families through a child abuse ring which was engaged in sexual abuse and blackmail and extortion of families, and was also connected to international child pornography sites. This is really no surprise. Accusations about this case in Kasur have been coming forward for years but have never been properly investigated. The reason is all too obvious. Unfortunately, in our country the rich are able to easily get away with crime. The ombudsman’s report points out that 272 cases of child abuse were reported in Kasur in 2017 but very few were punished under the law for their crimes. Overall, in the same year some 4000 cases of child sexual abuse were reported across the country – the majority of them from Punjab.

This of course could be only the tip of the iceberg. It is possible that many cases are not reported at all. It is also a fact that for the impoverished it is almost impossible to seek justice against more powerful elements. The result is that even when criminal cases are investigated, the players at the very bottom of the pyramid may be arrested and possibly punished while the masterminds at the top remain untouched. We have seen this happen again and again in crimes such as human trafficking, the narcotics trade and much else. We hope that with the horrific incidents from Kasur now confirmed and a report compiled more attention will be given to the matter. Over the years in that town alone thousands have been affected by the abuse of their children, the making of child porn and the consequent demands for money to avoid making these videos public. Families are then caught in an almost impossible situation. The matter has now reached the very highest authorities in the land after being ignored for years. We hope that the voices of ordinary people will finally be heard and justice done regardless of influence and position.