At least six such cases have been reported in the past three and a half months, with half of them occurring this December alone. These cases of underage girls being murdered after being raped have increased in Karachi during 2022 with a sudden upsurge being observed recently.
In the city this year, there have been over 200 cases of sexual abuse reported. According to the Karachi police statistics, the victims of eight of the 216 cases of abuse were under five years old, 40 were between six and ten, 38 were between fifteen and eighteen, and 95 were over eighteen.
Nearly all child abuse cases involving suspects have been solved by police arrests. Near relatives and neighbours were typically involved.
The War Against Rape (WAR), a non-governmental organisation focusing on such incidents, told that until July, in the 42 cases, 27 (64%) survivors were children under 18 years.
The most vulnerable age group was 5-11 years (36%), followed by 12-17 years (29%). The average age was 14 years in all cases investigated, with the minimum age of survivors being five years.
Thirty-eight (90%) cases were reported of women and female children. Regarding the nature of the assault, 64% of the cases were rape, 18% of gang rape, 12% of incest and 6% of sexual assault.
District West has been the red-alert zone, indicating the highest incidence of sexual violence at 47%, followed by District East 21%, District Korangi 14%, Malir and South districts 8% each, and the Keamari and Central districts 1% each.
