Pakistani police arrest suspects in gang-rape of 10-year-old girl who survived floods

Police patrol in the Saddar market area of Karachi, Sindh on May 24, 2021. (AFP/File)
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Updated 26 October 2022
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Pakistani police arrest suspects in gang-rape of 10-year-old girl who survived floods

  • Family of girl fled village after floods in Sindh’s Shikarpur district, were living on a footpath in Karachi
  • Rape took place on Sunday night, survivor was taken to hospital in critical condition on Monday evening

KARACHI: Police in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh said on Wednesday they had arrested two suspects in the rape of a 10-year-old girl whose family had survived devastating floods in their village and were living on a footpath in the port city of Karachi.

The family of the girl fled their village in Sindh’s Shikarpur district last month, according to a police report, and were currently squatting in Karachi’s upscale Clifton neighborhood.

“Both suspects accused of the rape have been arrested from Karachi and Tando Allahyar yesterday,” Asad Raza, a Senior Superintendent of Police, told Arab News, identifying the suspects as Ghulam Rasool and Khalid Hussain Lund.

“Ghulam Rasool drives a Careem cab. Him and his friend Khalid Hussain Lund picked up the girl by luring her with food,” the police officer said. DNA sample had been collected from both suspects, he added. “Police caught the suspects with the help of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.”

Karachi police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed told Arab News the rape took place on Sunday night, after which the survivor was taken to the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Center (JPMC) in critical condition on Monday evening.

“It’s horrible, had she not been provided treatment for one more hour, she would have died because she was brought in a life-threatening situation and with excessive blood loss,” Syed said, saying the child was out of danger now.

Last month, another girl was also reportedly gang-raped after she went to receive relief goods in the flood-hit Sanghar district of Sindh.

At least 2,211 children faced different forms of sexual and other abuse in Pakistan between January to June this year, Sahil, a non-profit organization working against child sexual abuse, said in a report compiling data from 88 national and regional newspapers.

Fewer than three percent of sexual assault or rape cases result in a conviction in Pakistan, according to the Karachi-based advocacy group War against Rape.


Pakistan PM’s aide urges parents to vaccinate children against polio in campaign starting Feb. 2

Updated 24 January 2026
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Pakistan PM’s aide urges parents to vaccinate children against polio in campaign starting Feb. 2

  • Islamabad last year conducted six campaigns that reduced cases to 30 from 74 in 2024
  • Pakistan targets more than 45 million children in first immunization campaign of 2026

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan prime minister’s focal person for polio eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq on Saturday urged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated against the disease as the country gears up to launch the first nationwide immunization campaign of this year on Feb. 2, seeking to curb the spread of the virus.

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated vaccination for every child under five.

Pakistan aims to vaccinate more than 45 million children against polio during the first nationwide immunization drive of 2026, according to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC).

The anti-polio campaign will be launched on Feb. 2 and run till Feb. 8. It will run simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which are the only two countries where polio remains an endemic.

“Public cooperation is crucial for polio eradication,” Farooq said in a statement. “Parents must ensure that their children receive polio drops in every campaign.”

The NEOC last year conducted six nationwide campaigns against poliovirus in Pakistan, where cases came down from 74 in 2024 to 30 in 2025.

Farooq said more than 400,000 polio workers will go door-to-door to administer polio drops to children, urging communities to cooperate with vaccinators.

“Religious scholars and the media should play an effective role in polio awareness,” she added.