LAHORE: A man from Lahore has been accused of engaging in “sextortion” involving a minor on the social media platform Snapchat. On Thursday, the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) reported that a district and sessions court in Lahore had approved the accused’s five-day physical remand for further investigation.
According to the remand application, the accused was arrested after an international organization alerted NCCIA. He faces charges of sharing explicit material through Snapchat and coercing a minor. Following the arrest, authorities seized his phone, where they discovered explicit content in the device’s “screenshot” and “screen-recording” folders.
The accused admitted to the crime during initial questioning. As a result, a first information report (FIR) was registered under Section 22 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. The court has set the next hearing for August 26.
Although the investigation officer, NCCIA sub-inspector Shafqat Ehsan, had requested a 14-day remand, the court only granted five days.
The incident has drawn attention to the increasing prevalence of child abuse in Pakistan. A report by the child rights group Sahil revealed that in 2024, there were 3,364 cases of child abuse across Pakistan. The report also highlighted the gender disparity in these cases, with 53% of victims being girls and 47% boys.
