Hafizabad | Pakistan

HAFIZABAD - A tuition centre roof collapsed in Hafizabad district on Saturday, leaving seven people dead, among them five children.

Seven people, including five children, died when the roof of a room in a house collapsed in the Farooq Azam neighbourhood of Punjab’s Hafizabad district on Saturday, according to police. Hafizabad District Police Officer (DPO) Atif Nazir Kadhar said in a statement that a woman and her son were holding tuition classes in the affected house when the room’s roof collapsed. “As a result, the woman, her son and five children who were taking tuition classes died.” The statement said DPO Kadhar reached the site after receiving information about the incident and oversaw the rescue work. According to data shared by the Rescue 1122, one child also suffered a critical head injury in the incident. Last month, three members of a family died after the roof of their under-construction house caved-in in the Islampura locality of Nankana Sahib in Punjab. Earlier in July, two children had died and two other were injured when the roof of a house collapsed in Lahore’s Badami Bagh. The incident had taken place reportedly due to t...

Police have registered a first information report (FIR) in the case of a 14-year-old girl with mental and physical disabilities being allegedly sexually assaulted in Punjab’s Hafizabad district. Sahil’s Six Months Cruel Numbers data reveals that a total of 1,630 cases of child abuse were reported from across the country last year. In the first six months of 2024, 862 cases of child sexual abuse, 668 cases of abduction, 82 cases of missing children and 18 cases of child marriages were reported. 48 cases of pornography after sexual abuse were also recorded. The victim was brought to the hospital due to her health condition, where, during a medical check-up, it was discovered that she was six months pregnant. An application for action was filed by the victim’s family on Saturday at the City Hafizabad Police Station, on which case number 1152/25 was formally registered on Sunday under Section 376 (3) (Whoever commits rape of a minor or a person with mental or physical disability, shall be punished with death or i...

Punjab Prosecutor General Syed Farhad Ali Shah on Wednesday took notice of the Hafizabad gang-rape incident and declared it a “high-profile” case for the police to pursue. Last week, Hafizabad police launched raids to arrest eight suspects who allegedly abducted a couple in Hafizabad and subjected them to physical and sexual assault. A first information report (FIR) filed by the husband at the Kasoki Police Station said that the incident occurred on April 25 when the complainant and his wife were on a motorcycle and they stopped for a bit. As the wife got off the motorcycle, a man came towards them who verbally abused and hit her, it stated. A group of armed men later arrived and took the couple to a secluded place near a graveyard, the FIR said, detailing how the couple were subjected to physical violence, sexual assault, and robbery. According to a press release issued by the prosecutor general’s office today, the prosecutor general declared the case as “high-profile”, summoning the investigating officer (I...

One of the main suspects of a double child murder case drowned after jumping into a river as he was fleeing custody in Punjab’s Hafizabad district on Wednesday, according to the police. Two boys were found dead in a metal trunk of a house after both went missing in Kassoki village of Hafizabad district. Two uncles of one of the deceased boys, and their three accomplices, were among the suspects and police had arrested two of them. Police had registered a case against four nominated and two unidentified suspects and started an investigation. Hafizabad Crime Control Department (CCD) Deputy Superintendent of Police Ijaz Ahmed told Dawn.com today that one of the uncles was in CCD custody when the incident occurred. “The suspect drowned and his dead body was later recovered from the canal,” he added. The first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at Hafizabad’s Kasoki Police Station on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Ali Kamran under Section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawfu...

Police on Tuesday launched raids to arrest eight suspects who allegedly abducted a couple in Hafizabad and subjected them to physical and sexual assault. The first information report (FIR) was filed by the husband today at the Kasoki Police Station under Sections 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (Unlawful assembly), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354-A (assault or use of criminal force to woman and stripping her of her clothes ), 355 (causing hurt by dangerous means), 365 (kidnapping), 375-A (rape), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint to commit the theft), 496A (enticing away a woman) and 506B (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR said the incident occurred on April 25 around 7pm when the complainant and his wife were on a motorcycle when they stopped for a bit. As the wife got off the motorcycle, a man came towards them who verbally abused and hit her, it stated. A group of armed men later arriv...

Two seven-year-old boys were found dead in a house in Punjab’s Hafizabad several days after they were reported missing, according to a first information report (FIR). According to a copy of the FIR — seen by Dawn.com and filed upon the complaint of the father of one of the victims — the complainant was heading for work at 7am on Wednesday morning when he learned that his son had gone missing. “When I returned from work at 9 or 10pm, I could not find my son,” the complainant stated in the FIR. “We went to the house of a neighbour and found my son’s shoe there.” According to the FIR, when asked about the missing boy, the neighbour said that his grandson had also gone missing. The complainant added that he and other residents searched for the children and performed announcements through mosques, to no avail. On Thursday morning, the complainant was informed that the boys had been seen with three named and two unidentified suspects. “We arrived at a house where the suspects were present. When we asked them to ope...