Plan for cyber patrol wing for dealing with child pornography

Zainab Ameen brutal death had shaken the nation, followed by a candlelight vigil and protest to arrest the culprits.

Although the culprits have been arrested, what can be done to prevent such heinous crimes from being committed?

Pakistan’s top security and investigative agency has proposed to set up a fully-equipped ‘cyber patrol wing’ to deal with the child pornography rings in the country.
Presently, there is no team at any Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) office working full time to track down the suspects involved in selling or uploading pornographic material online.

“So far three cases of child pornography have been traced either on tip-offs from inside the country or outside of it. We do not have any other mechanism to track down the suspects involved in this heinous crime. The child pornography rings are operating here and to nab them we need a dedicated cell equipped with latest soft-wares,” says FIA senior officer Usman Anwar.

READ ALSO: Officials probe Zainab’s case; ties of porn ring suspected

He said the child pornography rings are moving to the developing countries because of ‘easy and cheap market’ here.

“To deal with them we have proposed to the federal government that a ‘cyber patrol wing’, comprising a dedicated team of FIA personnel equipped with the latest software, be set up without any further delay. The FIA teams will do 24/7 patrolling on the Internet to track down indigenous networks,” he said.

Three cases involving child pornography have surfaced in Punjab province of Pakistan recently.

Saadat Amin of Sargodha (some 200km from Lahore) allegedly made child pornography involving 25 children sold such material online.

Taimur Maqsood, a suspect from Jhang (some 180km from Lahore), has been accused of exchanging child pornographic content online.

Third suspect Nabil of Fateh Jang (some 300km from Lahore) allegedly made porn videos/pictures of some children.

READ ALSO: ‘Beast’ arrested; Zainab Ameen to get justice

In the first two cases, Norwegian and Canadian authorities alerted the FIA after they arrested members of the child pornography rings in their countries.

In the third case, the families of five children reported the matter to FIA.

 There have been calls from all quarters to check child pornography after the brutal murder of a seven-year-old girl of Kasur that shocked the country.

The alleged killer is said to be the serial killer accused of killing at least eight minor girls.

There has also been a demand to enhance punishment for such cases.

According to the cybercrime law – the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act – a child pornographer shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to seven years or with a fine of up to Rs 5 million or with both.