ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said on Sunday it had broken up an international network selling child sexual abuse material online, and found that a father was involved in making and selling such videos of his own minor children.
Announcing the case at a press conference in Islamabad, NCCIA Additional Director Mohammad Shoaib Khan said the material was sold through secret Telegram groups and paid for in cryptocurrency. He described the involvement of a parent as the first case of its kind in Pakistan.
Ringleader arrested, raids continue
The network’s alleged ringleader was arrested with the help of international agencies, Khan said, and links and evidence were recovered from several cities. Raids were continuing to arrest other facilitators of the network. The agency did not name any of the suspects.
“Those involved in such heinous crimes will be brought to justice,” Khan said. “If you are a victim of cybercrime, do not remain silent; NCCIA stands with you.”
In a separate statement, NCCIA Director General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi ordered a zero-tolerance policy against those harassing citizens, particularly women and children, on social media.
A wider crackdown
The case is one of several the agency has announced in recent days. In another, four members of a separate gang were arrested after around 60 videos were recovered from a child’s phone. On October 23, NCCIA’s Karachi zone arrested suspects from three firms over the alleged production and online sale of animated child sexual abuse material.
Child protection groups say the scale of the problem is large. UNICEF estimates that about 1.5 million children in Pakistan experienced online sexual abuse in a single year, and that around 85 per cent of perpetrators were known to their victims. The child rights organisation Sahil recorded at least 1,914 child abuse cases in the first six months of 2026, including 1,015 cases of child sexual abuse.
Victims of cybercrime can report complaints to the NCCIA helpline, 1799, which operates 24 hours a day.∎
