Juvenile inmates in the central prison in Pakistan's Peshawar city are being 'supplied' to older prisoners and sexually abused, according to reports.
A juvenile prisoner in Peshawar Central Prison has complained that some jail officials have been pulling underaged inmates from their reserved section and 'supplying' them to adult prisoners for sex, Dawn reported.
The inmate, who is about 15 years of age, has lodged a complaint with Peshawar's district judge who is in charge of the juvenile court. The boy also named at least four prison officials who allegedly provide the juveniles to other prisoners for money.
The 105 juvenile prisons currently lodged at the Peshawar jail are housed separately inside the prison building.
The boy, who made his complaint when he was presented in a Peshawar court last week, said most juveniles do not raise the issue as they are afraid of torture. He also accused other prison officials of not taking action despite being aware of the issue.
As many as 95 of the 105 juvenile inmates in the Peshawar jail are undertrials, with only 10 having been convicted for crimes.
Pakistan activists have claimed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has not provided for separate institutions for juveniles as per law, and many children are put behind bars for years for petty offences, Dawn reported.
There are reportedly 338 juvenile prisoners behind bars in jails across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan had recently faced international criticism after it hanged Shafqat Hussain who was said to have been only 13 when he was arrested in 2004 and reportedly confessed under gruesome torture.
In August this year, a serious child abuse scandal came to light in Pakistan's Punjab province, in which over 280 children had been sexually abused and the crimes recorded in about 400 videos.
