Pakistan Horrified by Alleged Child Sex Abuse Blackmail Ring
Aug. 10, 2015
Locals believe a blackmail gang filmed some 270 children being sexually abused
(HUSSAIN KHAN WALA, Pakistan) — In this dusty town near Pakistan’s border with India, families kept quiet for years about the blackmail gang that locals believe filmed some 270 children being sexually abused, fearful the videos could appear online or sold in markets for as little as 50 cents.
Those living in Hussain Khan Wala say the gang forced children at gunpoint to be abused or drugged them into submission. It was only after one family spoke up that others rose against the gang, with police later arresting 11 suspects.
But as Pakistan recoils in horror at the scope of the abuse, the case shows the dangers here facing poor children, many of whom work as domestic servants and face abuse at the hands of their employers. It also raises questions about how such a gang could operate for years, with some questioning Pakistan’s police and political elite.
“They destroyed me,” one victim said. “They destroyed my family. They just killed me”
The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual abuse.
The gang likely began targeting its victims years earlier, Kasur district police chief Rai Babar Saeed told the AP. Saeed said police already confiscated some 30 videos, nearly all of which included sexual abuse of children as young as 12. The gang then used the videos to extort money from families, threatening to release them publicly and shame their children and their relatives, Saeed said.
If a family couldn’t pay, there were some cases in which a victim would be forced to find another child to be filmed being abused, said Latif Sarra, a lawyer representing some victims. He, as well as other town residents interviewed by the AP, said the gang filmed at least 270 children being abused. Saeed said he didn’t know of that many children being involved.
Pakistan Horrified by Alleged Child Sex Abuse Blackmail Ring
What with this and Boko Haram's dating technique, Islam is starting to look like a UT frat house.
Aug. 10, 2015
Locals believe a blackmail gang filmed some 270 children being sexually abused
(HUSSAIN KHAN WALA, Pakistan) — In this dusty town near Pakistan’s border with India, families kept quiet for years about the blackmail gang that locals believe filmed some 270 children being sexually abused, fearful the videos could appear online or sold in markets for as little as 50 cents.
Those living in Hussain Khan Wala say the gang forced children at gunpoint to be abused or drugged them into submission. It was only after one family spoke up that others rose against the gang, with police later arresting 11 suspects.
But as Pakistan recoils in horror at the scope of the abuse, the case shows the dangers here facing poor children, many of whom work as domestic servants and face abuse at the hands of their employers. It also raises questions about how such a gang could operate for years, with some questioning Pakistan’s police and political elite.
“They destroyed me,” one victim said. “They destroyed my family. They just killed me”
The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual abuse.
The gang likely began targeting its victims years earlier, Kasur district police chief Rai Babar Saeed told the AP. Saeed said police already confiscated some 30 videos, nearly all of which included sexual abuse of children as young as 12. The gang then used the videos to extort money from families, threatening to release them publicly and shame their children and their relatives, Saeed said.
If a family couldn’t pay, there were some cases in which a victim would be forced to find another child to be filmed being abused, said Latif Sarra, a lawyer representing some victims. He, as well as other town residents interviewed by the AP, said the gang filmed at least 270 children being abused. Saeed said he didn’t know of that many children being involved.
Pakistan Horrified by Alleged Child Sex Abuse Blackmail Ring
What with this and Boko Haram's dating technique, Islam is starting to look like a UT frat house.
