PAKISTAN
Daily Times
By Shahzad Raza
ISLAMABAD: Clerics were involved in only one percent of over 1,200 cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) committed during the first three quarters of 2004, say statistics compiled by non-government organisation (NGO) Sahil.
The statistics revealed that 1,218 children were abused from January 2004 to September 2004. The figures only mentioned the cases reported in 27 newspapers. It was observed that a majority of the cases had not been reported.
The statistics showed 434 of the total CSA cases were committed by elderly cousins or other acquaintances of children. It added 176 cases occurred at the victims’ homes, 74 in fields, 31 in streets, 18 in jungles, 15 at workplaces, six in mosques, two in hotels, one in a church and one case in jail.
The statistical report said the places of CSA crimes in 461 cases were not reported in newspapers. It observed that the CSA rate in Pakistan was still touching the astonishing figure of 4.5 children a day, which was almost equal to that in year 2003.
During the first three quarters of the year 2004, around 197 girls were raped and 105 boys were sodomised. It was reported that 34 girls and 13 boys were murdered after being sexually assaulted.