HYDERABAD: Sanghar police on the night of January 22 arrested a man accused of raping and torturing a 15-year-old girl from Hyderabad. On January 23, police produced the suspect, Wazir son of Waris Rajar, before a civil judge and judicial magistrate, who granted his three-day physical remand to Chautiarion police station, within whose jurisdiction the incident occurred. A medical report issued by Civil Hospital Sanghar confirmed that the victim, Shadbano Mallah — also the complainant
Child Rights in Focus
Medical negligence in Pakistan is often discussed in the abstract — as a system failure, a resource constraint or an unfortunate by-product of poverty. But when nearly 4,000 children in Sindh are living with HIV, many of them infected not at birth or through personal behaviour but in healthcare facilities meant to heal them, negligence ceases to be an abstract concept. It becomes a crime in plain sight. The Pakistan Medical Association’s “high-level alert” on
ISLAMABAD: Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Afzal Majoka on Jnuary 22 recorded the statements of mother and maternal aunt of renowned TikToker Sana Yousuf in her murder case. The court summoned the officials of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) over threats received by the defense counsel, and adjourned the hearing until January 27. During the hearing, accused Umar Hayat was produced before the court. At the initial stage, no counsel appeared on
LAHORE: The Punjab government has given two weeks to stakeholders to implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in plazas, schools and hospitals in the wake of Gul Plaza inferno in Karachi. “A building grading system has now been introduced across the province, under which safe buildings will be categorised as A-grade, while others will be graded according to their condition. The firefighting sector is being upgraded with modern technology, drones and state-of-the-art equipment,” Punjab Information Minister Azma
The reported gang rape of a minor girl in Jacobabad by policemen in custody is a failure of procedure that demands serious institutional reckoning. Furthermore, the subsequent arrest of six policemen is being presented as proof that the system works. It is not. Accountability that begins and ends with junior officers is not true justice. Female detainees — including minors — were allegedly kept in a private location with male police officers. This alone constitutes illegal
RAWALPINDI: A high-level committee formed on the orders of the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court has finalised recommendations for a province-wide academic calendar comprising 190 working days in schools and colleges across Punjab. The proposals include reducing summer vacations from two-and-a-half months to six weeks or one and a half months. The committee held three meetings over the past four months and presented its joint recommendations in the third meeting. Under the
LAHORE: At least 658 children ran away from their homes and were intercepted at railway stations across Pakistan in 2025, many citing hunger, lack of basic necessities and corporal punishment at home and in schools, according to data released by the Pakistan Railways Police. Official data shared with The Express Tribune shows that during 2025, railway police intercepted 658 runaway children across the country, including 413 boys and 245 girls, who had reached various railway stations
PAKISTAN’s education system has struggled to evolve beyond traditional patterns where reproduction is prioritised over the application of knowledge and skills. Thinkers such as John Dewey and Paulo Freire have long argued that education should connect classrooms with lived realities, and be outcome-oriented. An Outcome-Based Education system (OBE) has gained currency globally over the last three decades, while Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) became popular in Pakistan after they were included in the National Curriculum
HYDERABAD: A minor girl, allegedly subjected to rape and a post-rape torture in which she sustained multiple wounds of cuts with a sharp object including one on her tongue, has booked a young man in the rape FIR at Chautiarion police station in Sanghar district. The accused Wazeer Rajar, son of an influential and politically affiliated landlord Waris Rajar, remains at large. The initial medical report by government hospital Sanghar has established rape and
SUKKUR: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday obtained a five-day remand of all eight suspects nominated in the alleged gang-rape in the RD-44 police station of Jacobabad district about a week ago. The FIA had registered a new FIR (No. CC-LRK (Acc)-1/2026) against two SHOs and their six subordinates and arrested them. The suspects were produced in a court to obtain their remand. The victim had earlier objected before a judge that the
TAXILA: An estranged man shot dead his father- and mother-in-law and two minor children in Pind Mehri village in Hassanabdal before committing suicide on January 22. Sources in the Hassanabdal police said that Nasir, a resident of Haripur, had contracted marriage with his cousin in Pind Mehri village in the outskirts of Hassanabdal six years ago. The couple developed differences over domestic issues and the woman started living with her parents a couple of
MAILSI: The Punjab government’s flagship welfare and education initiative, the School Nutrition Programme, has been formally launched in Tehsil Mailsi with the aim of protecting children from malnutrition and improving their learning abilities by providing balanced nutritional support. The programme is being implemented across District Vehari, including Tehsil Mailsi, under the Punjab government’s vision of “Health and Education Together.” According to official figures, there are 593 government primary schools in District Vehari with a