A sessions court has sentenced a man to three-year imprisonment for sexually abusing a teenage boy. Sunil Anthony, alias Sunny, was found guilty of assaulting the 13-year-old boy at the former’s residence in Azam Town within the jurisdiction of the Mehmoodabad police station in October 2023. Additional Sessions Judge (South) Abdul Zahoor awarded three years of rigorous imprisonment to the accused for offence punishable under the Section 377 (unnatural offence) of the Pakistan Penal
Child Rights in Focus
PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on 4th March temporarily stopped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board (KPTBB) from executing profit-sharing contracts with eight private publishers for publishing of textbooks for grade 9 to 12. A bench consisting of Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Sabitullah Khan issued notices to the respondents including the KPTBB chairman, secretary of elementary and secondary education and National Curriculum Council (NCC), seeking their response to a plea of three private publishers challenging the
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education and Khan Academy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to introduce personalised learning in schools through Khan Academy’s AI-powered tutor, Khanmigo. Khan Academy will train teachers of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) to effectively utilise Khanmigo, ensuring a seamless integration of technology in classrooms. This initiative is poised to be a game-changer in education reforms, providing students with a tailored learning experience that caters to their
Beyond policy measures, there must be a fundamental shift in how daughters are perceived in society. The bodies of five newborn girls, discarded like garbage and mutilated by stray animals in Sialkot, reveal a horrifying reality of Pakistan’s deep-seated disregard for female life. This is a symptom of a society’s moral deprivation, where daughters are still seen as burdens, where gender preference is so deeply entrenched that some choose to kill rather than raise
GUJRANWALA: A joint team of the district administration and Metropolitan Corporations (MC) on 3rd March sealed more than 40 private schools being run in residential buildings. The team was led by City Assistant Commissioner (AC) Iqra Mobeen Gondal, while MC Chief Officer Haider Chattha accompanied her. The AC said that the team sealed schools located in Satellite Town, on DC Road and Sialkot Bypass over their illegal operations in residential buildings. She said these
KARACHI: Unknown criminals kidnapped a 12-year-old girl in Surjani Town, subjected her to sexual assault and torture before throwing her out of a car in the Scheme-33 area on 3rd March, police said. Surjani Town SHO Ghulam Husain Pirzada said the girl had left her home in Yusuf Goth on March 2 to purchase something from a nearby shop, but she could not return. Her family informed the police who launched a search and
A case was registered against an unidentified individual LAHORE: The corpse of a newborn child was found on a garbage heap in Mozang. According to Edhi Foundation officials, the body was found abandoned on a roadside garbage heap. Upon information about the incident, Mozang police took the body into custody and arranged its burial at Miani Sahib graveyard with the help of Edhi volunteers. A case was registered against an unidentified individual and the
Islamabad: Child-centred approach in the judiciary was stressed at a high-level event titled “Promoting and Protecting Child Rights through Improved Legal Literacy and Education in Pakistan” hosted by Group Development Pakistan (GDP). The initiative was part of a wider ‘Reimagine Justice for Children in Pakistan’ programme, and was launched in collaboration with the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), with support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project aims to enhance legal
PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has allowed two months’ time to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for introduction and implementation of an updated Nikahnama and enforcement of a law on premarital screening for thalassaemia and Hepatitis-C. A bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan and Justice Syed Mudasser Ameer was requested by an additional advocate general to allow few months to the government for introduction and implementation of an updated Nikahnama (marriage form), which would also include
MUZAFFARGARH: A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in the Kot Sultan area of district Layyah. The incident triggered anger among the local residents. Police have arrested the suspect and launched an investigation. According to the first information report, the alleged rape victim, a student of Government Girls Primary School Chandrayan, was abducted on her way home from school by a man (name withheld). He allegedly raped her and later forced her to
The Sindh High Court (SHC) has dismissed the bail application of a man in a sexual assault case. Applicant Mohammad Maroof had been arrested by the Tipu Sultan police for allegedly molesting an underage girl with a mental disability. According to the prosecution, the applicant who had a toy shop took the 11-year-old girl to his house, and molested her and attempted to rape her. The applicant’s counsel said his client is innocent, and
LHC directs trial court to seek evidence about alleged rapist’s biological child LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed a trial court to seek evidence from a woman to substantiate her claim that a certain individual is the biological father of her child conceived after her alleged rape. A single-member bench of the LHC comprising Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad allowed a petition filed by a Muhammad Afzal against the verdict of a trial