TAXILA: Police in Attock have rescued a 12-year-old girl from Khagwani village in Hazro Town after raiding a wedding ceremony. The girl was reportedly sold for Rs50,000 by her stepfather to the 60-year-old bridegroom, a TB patient and a donkey cart driver by profession. Police booked nine persons including the bride’s stepfather, mother, village numbardar, the bridegroom and his siblings as well as a nikah register. According to the police, a man named Tayyab
Child Rights in Focus
TOBA TEK SINGH: A young boy was arrested by Chuttiana police on 8th March for allegedly raping a six-year-old girl in Chak 301-GB. According to the FIR registered under section 376 of the PPC, the complainant stated that the suspect lured her daughter to an orchard outside the village, where he raped her. Upon hearing the child’s cries, neighbouring farmers rushed to the scene, but the suspect fled. The rape survivor was shifted to
The Sindh High Court (SHC) has dismissed the bail application of a man in a child molestation case. The applicant, Ghazi Khan, was arrested for allegedly molesting a child along with other co-accused in the Malir area on May 6, 2024. A counsel for the applicant submitted that the complainant of the case had raised no objection to the bail before both the trial court and the high court. He submitted that the complainant’s
Two minor siblings riding a motorcycle were critically injured in an accident in Steel Town KARACHI. Five people, including two young siblings, lost their lives while 11 others sustained injuries in separate traffic accidents in the city on March 8. Two minor siblings riding a motorcycle were critically injured in an accident in Steel Town. Six-year-old Gulzadi, succumbed to her injuries en route to hospital, while her elder brother, 12-year-old Abdul Razzaq, died during
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A poor man ended his life by swallowing poisonous pills after his 11-year-old daughter was given as Vani by a village council (panchayat) in Bhagwani Shumali area in the limits of Paharpur Police Station. Before this tragic incident, the panchayat had also taken Rs0.7 million from the poor barber named Adil. The influential local landlords took extreme action against Adil after it was revealed that his nephew and the daughter of
A Karachi court has rejected a jactitation of marriage suit filed by Dua Zehra, the teenage girl who was allegedly kidnapped from Karachi and later found to have married in Punjab in 2022. Civil Judge (East) Muhammad Nouman Jatoi declared her marriage with Zaheer Ahmed, as well as their Nikahnama, valid. In her suit, the girl pleaded with the court to declare the impugned Nikahnama forged and void ab initio for “being a result
A SIGNIFICANT number of children in Pakistan participate in waste-picking for economic survival. Our legal framework, unfortunately, is inadequate in this respect and unable to protect and rehabilitate the children. With rapid urbanisation and population growth, waste generation is growing, overwhelming municipal managements. An estimated 49.6 million tonnes of solid waste is generated in the country each year, according to the 2024 ITA Pakistan Country Commercial Guide. Waste generation is increasing by over 2.4
KHYBER/BAJAUR: Police have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with three more private schools for giving concessions in monthly fee, books and uniforms to the children of martyred policemen in the Khyber tribal district. The MoU was signed at the office of District Police Officer Rae Mazhar Iqbal with representatives of the three educational institutions situated in Jamrud. As per the MoU, the schools will accommodate children of martyred policemen on priority basis with half
POLIO has emerged as a major challenge in Pakistan. It is not simply a challenge in the health sector, but has also become both a security and political issue. It has been reported that 74 polio cases emerged in the country last year. Pakistan now has the dubious distinction of being one of the two remaining countries in the world — the other being Afghanistan — that is hosting a debilitating disease that leaves
MUZAFFARGARH: The deputy commissioner has asked the Chief Executive Officer of Education Miss Mah Jabeen to look into reports that a government school for special children in Alipur has expelled a class five student for being transgender. DC Quratul Ain promised action against responsible officials if the transgender allegation was true. Shahid Ali’s mother submitted an application with the deputy commissioner office and claimed the school administration had given “no reasonable reason” for expelling
Malala Yousafzai visits school, meets family in Shangla SHANGLA: Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on March 5 visited her hometown Barkana in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012. During her visit, Malala met family members and paid respects at her ancestral graveyard. She also visited her uncle, Ramazan, who recently underwent heart surgery in Islamabad. Karora Station House Officer (SHO) Amjad Alam Khan
No action taken on fact-finding committee’s report on low pass percentage in Karachi KARACHI: The Government of Sindh has put the issue of low grades of thousands of intermediate students in Karachi on the backburner. After protests by students and voices raised by the opposition members in the Sindh Assembly on this issue, a notification was issued to form an investigative committee headed by Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah, comprising members of the