Amtal Salam, 38, is the mother of eight-year-old Muhammad Faizan, who was raped and strangulated by an unknown paedophile. She wants an exemplary punishment for the killer of her son. "I want him to be hanged publicly. Then his body should be chopped into small pieces and be kept in a box. When his flesh starts to rot with worms, it should be burnt and his ashes should be scattered in the air," says Salam while wailing.

When asked if she is willing to do this with her own hands, she replies, "Yes, though it will still not satisfy me."

While the law will not allow her to punish the paedophile who killed her son, her sentiments speak of the state of paedophilia and killings of minors in Kasur district.

Four children - Muhammad Imran, Ali Hasnain and Suleman aged 12, 9 and 8 respectively - went missing in August. Muhammad Faizan, 8, was kidnapped on September 16. On September 17, Faizan’s body was found lying in a ditch near Chunian Bypass, along with remnants of two other corpses.

So far 21 people, mostly with a history of paedophilia and sodomy, have been arrested. DNA samples from the bodies and the suspects have been sent to the forensic lab. The Punjab chief minister has announced a reward worth Rs 5 million for information regarding the killer. The entire police administration of Kasur district has been replaced and a joint investigation team (JIT) has been formed. Yet, the investigators are still clueless.

Speaking to The News on Sunday, Kasur Assistant Commissioner, Shabbir Ahmed on Wednesday said, "The fourth missing boy’s clothes were discovered at the same spot and have been identified by Imran’s parents and the tailor who stitched them. Police and experts believe that the remains belong to three boys not two because Faizan’s body was still intact. However, the DNA report will clear the ambiguity surrounding Imran’s body."

"Police have arrested 21 suspects. They have taken DNA samples of 500 people from Chunian and sent them to a forensic lab," he added.

Kasur has been notorious following the events of 2015, when a sodomy-related pornography scandal was unearthed. Most of the victims in that case were under sixteen. Later, Zainab Ansari and seven other girls’ rapes and killings by Imran Ali, who was hanged last year, jolted the entire country. Now the rape and murder of four boys suggests that paedophilia is still rampant in Kasur and its outskirts.

Faizan’s father, Muhammad Ramzan is a prayer leader at Janazgah Wali Masjid in Pir Jehanian Chowk of Chunian. TNS interviewed Ramzan and his wife Salam at their house - the upper portion of the same mosque - where they were sitting with their three daughters and a son, Rehman.

"Faizan and Rehman went to the market to buy some candy and potato chips. However, Rehman returned alone. When asked about Faizan, he replied that he was following him but lost him somewhere along the way," says Ramzan.

Ramzan says that he immediately informed the authorities about the incident. However, they failed to find any clues regarding Faizan’s whereabouts. "I was sitting in the mosque when two neighbours informed me that a body and some remains had been found from a deserted place near Chunian Bypass road. Police did not let me see the body initially but a couple of neighbours identified him.  The body was given to us two hours later. We buried him the same night."

Faizan was buried in the graveyard opposite the mosque. The grave is visible from a window of the house.

In the room where the family was interviewed, Rehman was reading his brother’s school books. However, he was unable to say anything about his brother.

DIG Zulfiqar Hameed, who initially supervised the investigations in the absence of his counterpart, Suhail Tajik, who is now back from Iran, says: "Finding the three bodies or remains from the same spot indicates that there might be a serial killer involved." "Faizan’s autopsy report revealed that he was raped and strangulated to death but was not tortured separately."

But investigators suspect that there might be more to the harrowing incidents of abduction, rape and murder of minors in Kasur. "People who are committing such heinous and inhuman crimes might be suffering from serious disorders. Zainab’s killer, Imran Ali, was monitored by several crime psychiatrists and psychologists. During investigations, he revealed that he himself had been a victim of sodomy, which had resulted in him having a dissociative identity disorder," says Hameed. Imran was hanged in a Lahore jail last year.

"It is not the police’s job to teach people morality. It is the responsibility of the society and the state. Changing people’s behaviour towards children requires a comprehensive plan through a public- private partnership. An awareness campaign for children and their parents is also vital," adds Hameed.

People from various areas of Kasur have been arriving at Ramzan’s residence to offer condolences over the brutal murder of his son.

Shehnaz Bibi, 40, a housewife from another village of Chunian also came for condolence. "I am not related to the family. I heard about this gruesome incident and came here. Believe me there are plenty of perverts roaming around in Kasur city and Chunian. The police protects them." "You talk of minors, and yet the influential people of the area kidnap even women in broad daylight and rape them. There is no justice for the victims or punishment for the rapists, as the police support them."

Also read: Child protection – an uphill task

Muhammad Waseem, 16, a student in a local college says: "If police had taken action when the first child, Ali Hasnain, went missing the situation would not have gotten this far. Hasnain was my neighbour. When his parents went to the police station to register an FIR, the police told them to go back and wait as their child might have left home under some fear, and would return."

"Kasur is in the spotlight right now. Some gangs may be operating here in order to defame the country," says chairperson of Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) Sarah Ahmad. "In Punjab, 247 rape cases have been reported over the past 6 months alone. The CPWB is handling 50 of them in eight districts."

"For the first time, we are working closely with the police. We are sensitising them about the nature and gravity of such incidents. At the same time, we are working on awareness among children, parents, teachers and other organisations."

"Let me assure you that you will see a tangible difference in the coming months," she claims. The culprits, whether they are depraved sociopaths or serial killers, will be given exemplary punishment."

Sahil, an organisation working on child abuse cases in Pakistan, has outlined some facts in its recent report on the first six months of 2019. It revealed that 24 children including boys and girls, ranging from 6 to 15 years, were victims of sexual crimes in Kasur. "Another common factor in such cases is that the age of the rapists ranges between 14 and 25 years," reads the report.