The alleged burying alive of a 14-year-old sexual abuse victim in Sargodha has sparked widespread outrage on social media, with many calling for chemical castration and public executions of the two arrested suspects.
The incident took place in the Jhaal Chakian area of Sargodha where suspects allegedly buried the boy alive after he told his family he had been sexually abused by them. The boy was found when a passerby noticed his hand sticking out of the ground.
Locals dug up the soil and found him in critical condition. He was shifted to hospital and police were alerted. Two suspects have since been arrested, with a third still at large.
The incident drew an outpouring of anger online. “This nation has reached the brink of destruction,” one user wrote.
“What’s gotten into the people of Sargodha? Tales from the era of Abu Jahl are being written. May curses be upon such beasts,” said another.
“We’ve come to know over the past week just how cruel we Sargodha folks are. First that incident with the girl and now this. May Allah Almighty forgive us,” a third user wrote.
Others demanded harsher penalties. “The only solution is chemical castration,” one user said.
“Bring back public executions,” another wrote while some directed their anger at law enforcement.
Others also questioned why Punjab appeared to see such cases more frequently than other provinces. “I don’t say this out of regional bias, but cases like these are far fewer in Sindh, Balochistan and KP. Why does this happen every day in Punjab?” one user asked.
Some expressed disbelief at the methods employed. “Murder and abuse happen across the world, but I do not see such methods used by criminals where I live or if they are, it is a rare case,” one user wrote.
Earlier, Sargodha District Police Officer (DPO) Sohaib Ashraf told a media outlet that the boy had allegedly been sexually assaulted by three suspects around 20 days ago. The suspects had warned him not to tell anyone and to act as though nothing had happened.
According to initial reports, the suspects later found out the boy had informed his relatives and named the culprits. They kidnapped him last Friday and buried him alive in a deserted area in Jhaal Chakian, the DPO said.
“Police traced two of the prime suspects and sent them behind bars after lodging a case,” Ashraf said, adding that a separate police team had been dispatched to track down the third suspect. The DPO said that further proceedings would follow once the victim’s statement was recorded.
The incident comes days after a seven-year-old girl was found murdered in Sargodha, with police saying the preliminary autopsy report indicated she had been raped.
The prime suspect in the minor girl’s case was killed in his accomplices’ firing during a shootout with the Crime Control Department (CCD) after allegedly escaping police custody.
