HIV infections among children in Sindh’s Hyderabad division have continued to rise at an alarming pace, with 186 paediatric cases detected between June 1, 2025 and June 20, 2026, bringing the total number of HIV-positive children registered in the division to 293 and raising fresh concerns about blood safety, infection control practices and delayed detection of the virus. The latest figures indicate that more than 63 percent of all paediatric HIV cases registered in
Child Rights in Focus
LULLED into a sense of false security by its own denial and apathy, Pakistan is a long way from achieving tangible solutions to the curse of child abuse. The state’s refusal to address the presence of this scourge, and the lifelong traumas associated with it, is a ticking time bomb for young generations. The 2025 Cruel Numbers report from Sahil scanned the grim circumstances our young are forced to navigate. Its numbers spelled out
LAHORE: A child died and at least five other persons were injured after the roof of an under-construction private school building collapsed in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighbourhood on July 2. A statement issued by the Baghbanpura police says an eight-year-old boy died, while four men and another child were injured in the incident. Speaking to the media, Baghbanpura Station House Officer (SHO) Rizwan Khan said the school administration was constructing a two-marla structure to expand
PESHAWAR/ LAHORE: Heavy rain, strong winds and flash floods killed at least nine people and injured 28 others across Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) over the past 48 hours, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Rescue 1122 confirmed on Thursday. According to the PDMA (K-P), seven people were killed and 19 injured after roofs and walls of houses collapsed during heavy rain, windstorms and flash floods over the past 48 hours, “The dead included
The deadly building collapse of a private tuition centre in Lahore is another reminder of the pathetic enforcement of building controls and the unscrupulous behaviour of the construction industry, which prioritises profits over safety. Reports said 14 children between the ages of five and 16 were killed after the roof collapsed under the weight of construction workers who were working on it. The roof was made from concrete and steel T-beams, which are named
LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) Punjab has established a dedicated cell to ensure prompt registration, investigation and prosecution of cases involving women and children. According to NCCIA Punjab Director Muhammad Ali Wasim, the initiative had been taken to provide women and children with expedited legal assistance, protection and institutional support while ensuring that complaints were investigated without delay. “Cases involving online harassment, cyberstalking, blackmail, digital exploitation, identity theft, misuse or circulation
RAWALPINDI: At least three minors were sexually assaulted in three seperate incidents across Rawalpindi, police have said. According to the police, a 13-year-old deaf and mute girl was allegedly raped in the Naseerabad area, while a teenage housemaid was subjected to rape in Bahria Town. The alleged rape of the deaf and mute girl was discovered during a medical examination after her health deteriorated, according to a police report. A police spokesperson stated that
SARGODHA: A prayer leader was arrested after he was allegedly caught red-handed while committing rape with a minor boy in an adjoining room of a mosque in Shahwala South in Khushab district. In her complaint to the Noorpur Thal Police, the victim’s mother said that her nine-year-old son ‘H’ used to go to a mosque for hifz where ‘R’ taught him along with other children of the village. She alleged that when her son
GUJRAT: Police in Gujrat have registered at least six cases against the complainants, victims and witnesses in boys’ rape cases, for withdrawing or changing statements against the suspects before the court of law. All the cases have been lodged with the Kakrali police station in Kharian tehsil of Gujrat district in a single day. Official sources say that the cases were lodged against the complainants, victims and witnesses following a written complaint by the
UMERKOT: Three girls, aged 3 to 13, were killed after a portion of the outer wall of a government primary school collapsed and the rubble fell on them in the Gamoori Kori locality near Umerkot on June 30. The girls were returning home after attending a nearby seminary. While they were passing by the wall, it suddenly collapsed, locals said, adding that the girls died before they could be rescued from under the rubble.
A place of learning should never become a place of fear. Yet another child has paid with his life for the unchecked culture of violence that continues to exist at places meant to educate. Fourteen-year-old Ali Haider, who had been sent to a madrassa, allegedly died from a brutal beating by his teacher. The abuse was never reported when it occurred. Ali’s family took him back to Bahawalnagar for treatment, but he succumbed to
SARGODHA: The police have booked a youth and his accomplice for allegedly raping an orphaned boy at gunpoint and recording a video of the heinous crime in Bhakkar. According to the FIR, K, a youth from Chandani Chowk area of Bhakkar, and his accomplice S, lured an eighth class student ‘H’, an orphan, to a hut, where the former raped the boy at gunpoint. The suspect also recorded a video of the episode and