Minor boys allegedly rape four-year-old girl in Lodhran

LODHRAN: In yet another horrific incident of sexual assault, a four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two minor boys aged 12 and 13 in the fields in Lodhran district of the Punjab province, ARY NEWS reported on Friday.

According to police, the suspects took the girl to the nearby fields in Lodhran and sexually assaulted her. “Both of them are aged 12 and 13 years old,” they said adding that they later left the girl at the fields.

She was later shifted to a district hospital for medico-legal formalities.

The police said they have arrested one of the suspects involved in the episode. “The other suspect will also be arrested soon,” the district police officer (DPO) said while urging the citizens to play their role in overcoming and identifying such incidents.

The incidents of children being sexually assaulted in parts of the country have been reported frequently despite laws being in place to deal with such issues.

In December 2020, President Arif Alvi promulgated the anti-rape ordinance 2020 which aims to give strict punishments to sex offenders.

As per the ordinance, special courts would be constituted for speedy trials of rape cases across the country. The courts will be bound to wind up the sexual abuse cases within four months.

The identity of the rape victim would be kept secret as per the ordinance.

Later, the government put together a special 42-strong committee overseeing the implementation of the Anti-Rape Ordinance, putting Maleeka Bokhari of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) in charge of the body.