Parents at the center of a growing child abuse scandal in Pakistan have accused police of failing to do enough to break up a pedophile ring in Punjab province, the prime minister's political heartland.
Accounts of abuse in the central Punjabi village of Husain Khan Wala were splashed across the front pages of Pakistani newspapers over the weekend, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to be questioned on the topic in parliament on Monday.
Villagers told Reuters on Sunday that a prominent family there has for years forced children to perform sex acts on video. The footage was sold or used to blackmail their impoverished families.
"I went to the police station to file a complaint, but instead of registering a (report), they took my son into custody," said mother Shakila Bibi. The 15-year-old is still in jail, she added.
If an inquiry found inadequate police work or complicity, the scandal could engulf the provincial government, headed by the prime minister's brother.
District Police Officer Rai Babar said the force would act decisively.
"I assure you that we are taking this very seriously and there will be a fair and very transparent investigation," he told Reuters.
On Sunday, Sharif said in a statement: "(The) Prime Minister ... has expressed extreme sadness ... the culprits will be given the harshest possible punishment."
CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS
Villagers have accused police of not taking their complaints seriously and claim hundreds of children were affected.
Activist Mobeen Ghaznavi says many children were abused and that he had 130 video clips containing abuse.
"People are afraid. They are being threatened and intimidated," he said.
Suraiya Bibi said that when she complained to police, her family was threatened by the abusers.
"One day some women in the village showed me these videos. My son was in them. My world collapsed," she said.
"Kids were being intimidated in these videos with weapons, they were drugged. Kids as young as five years old were made to perform oral sex."
In one clip seen by Reuters, a boy cowers and cries before putting his hands over the camera lens. In another, a groggy boy is beaten and abused as a man tells him, "I will not stop until you smile."
Police have arrested seven suspects but downplayed the scale of the abuse, suggesting a land dispute may have sparked false accusations.
"It's a very murky situation," said Babar. He added that seven cases involving 11 children had been registered.
One 18-year-old told Reuters he had been abused since he was 10. He stole cash and jewelry from his family after his abusers blackmailed him, he said.
"I was going to school one day when these boys picked me up and beat me up badly. Then they drugged me, and when I woke up, they showed me these videos they had made of me," he said.
"They told me that they would bury me alive if I told anyone."
