ISLAMABAD – The Interior Ministry informed the Senate on Tuesday that, out of 567 sexual abuse cases registered in Islamabad between 2021 and June 2025, 200 involved children. The data was shared in a written response to Senator Shahdhat Awan during a Senate session.
Of the 200 child sexual abuse cases, 93 victims were boys and 108 were girls. The ministry stated that 222 accused individuals were arrested, but only 12 have been convicted. Currently, 163 remain on trial, 15 have been acquitted, and 26 are still at large.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that, according to reports from all Islamabad police stations via the Zonal Superintendent of Police, a total of 567 rape cases were registered and 625 accused arrested between January 1, 2021, and June 20, 2025. Of these, 485 cases were challaned, 80 accused convicted, 23 acquitted, and 406 are still under trial. Additionally, 29 cases remain under investigation.
The ministry also reported 266 cases of missing children in Islamabad between 2022 and 2025, including 153 boys and 120 girls. From these, 135 accused were arrested, two sentenced, 21 acquitted, and 103 are awaiting trial.
A civil society report by Sahil in May 2025 documented 3,364 child abuse cases across Pakistan, including all four provinces, Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, based on data from 81 national and regional newspapers.
Recent high-profile cases include the arrest of a man in Kasur, Punjab, in July for allegedly molesting a minor girl, and the June bust of a child sexual exploitation gang in Muzaffargarh, Punjab, by the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA), which led to two arrests and the rescue of ten children.
The text recalled the 2018 murder of six-year-old Zainab Amin, whose death sparked nationwide outrage. In response, the National Assembly passed the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Bill in 2019 to expedite investigations and punishments for child abuse perpetrators.
