KASUR: Phoolnagar police on Saturday claimed to have arrested four suspects who allegedly subjected a minor boy to rape, made video of the heinous crime and later blackmailed the victim’s family for money.

The police registered a case against the suspects and also recovered the objectionable videos and pictures from them.

According to police, the suspects had already uploaded the photos and videos on social media after the victim’s family failed to pay them the amount they had demanded.

Kasur had been under the spotlight following surfacing of a child abuse scandal in Hussain Khanwala village in which over 250 children were molested and later their families were blackmailed through videos.

According to the first information report (FIR) lodged on the complaint of the victim’s father, a resident of Kanvayki Malian village of Pattoki Tehsil, the prime suspect lured his nine-year-old son to the fields on Sept 9 where three other suspects were already present.

All the suspects subjected the boy to gang rape at gunpoint and filmed the act.

The FIR also said that the suspects contacted the complainant and demanded money, after showing him the objectionable material, threatening him that they would upload it on social media if their demand was not met.

When the father failed to arrange the amount, he informed the police about the matter one week after the incident.

The police entered a case under sections 377 and 293 of the Pakistan Penal Code against the four suspects.

All the four suspects were hardly 20 years old, while two of them were brothers who ran a barber shop at the village, Phoolnagar police SHO Azam Dhudi told Dawn.

He said all the suspects nominated in the FIR had been arrested.

He also claimed that the police recovered pictures and videos of the victim, adding that the material had already been uploaded on social media by the suspects.

He said police were investigating whether the suspects were part of a network involved in such crimes.

Meanwhile, Kasur District Police Officer Muntazir Mehdi also visited Phoolnagar police station and looked into the matter.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2018