Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said as the provision of safe environment to children was not only the responsibility of government but that of every individual of society also, the government would take all possible measures in that respect.
“The children are the future of a society. Crimes against the future of society and especially sexual abuse of innocent children are unfortunate and shameful for the whole society,” he said while presiding over a high-level meeting about the effective control of child-related crimes, particularly their sexual abuse. The prime minister pointed out that in the era of modern technology, an enormous increase in the sexual crimes against children had been witnessed.
Most of the parents, owing to some social reasons or different compulsions, did hesitate from timely informing the police or registration of cases, which not only helped the criminals escape from the law but also destroyed the lives of affected children, he added.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, Special Assistant on Accountability Shehzad Akbar, Secretary Interior Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, provincial inspectors general of police and senior officers of the Ministry of Interior and provincial home departments. The prime minister was given a detailed briefing about the crimes against children with particular focus on sexual abuse, child-related sexual material, some recent unfortunate incidents and the administrative measures to check such crimes.
Additional Inspector General of Counter Terrorism Department Punjab, while giving details and facts about the Zainab case, Chunian case and Rawalpindi case, the percentage of crimes against children in Punjab and presenting the unfortunate incidents like those of Chunian and Qasur as a case study, briefed the meeting about the measures being taken at provincial level to check such incidents and crimes.The meeting reviewed the legal, social, societal, economical and other aspects regarding the sexual abuse of children and deliberated in detail the measures taken so far at federal and provincial levels to curb such incidents and crimes.
The prime minister was told that a Special Monitoring Cell had been established to keep an eye on the crimes against children in the Punjab province, besides a thorough review of such heinous crimes and child missing incidents so as to ensure their control.
He was told that the system was being further streamlined for the early receipt of DNA reports as well. The prime minister was informed that as per his direction, “Apna Bacha” [mobile] application had been developed so that the report of missing children could be instantly conveyed to all the IGPs and senior officials.
Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday urged the nation to join the government’s anti-polio efforts to ensure the uninterrupted journey of the national economic development and for building a positive image of the country. Addressing the launching ceremony of the National Immunization Campaign here, the prime minister said the eradication of the polio virus was vital for both the children as well as the future of the whole nation.
