Principal of school in Pakistan accused of raping, filming and blackmailing students

The principal reportedly issued death threats to his victims and warned them to not report him.

Representational image courtesy Pixabay

A local court on Saturday indicted the principal of a private school in Pakistan's Peshawar on charges of child abuse and pornography. The accused has been found guilty of taking advantage of minors, raping them, filming them and then blackmailing them - often with death threats.

Attaullah Marwat, who is apparently the owner of the private school as well, allegedly took advantage of minors - both boys and girls - inside the premises of the educational institute. It is also alleged that he sexually exploited students and then filmed them using his mobile and hidden cameras placed all over the campus. Local police officials recovered 26 videos from his personal computer, according to a report in Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

Marwat had reportedly been carrying out his criminal act for several years with many fearing to report the principal because of death threats issued by him. Law finally caught up with him when a boy mustered the courage to report him at a police station last year and a case was registered against him on July 14 of 2017. The boy in his statement accused his principal of trying to lure him into participating in sexual activities.

As a result of such charges against Marwat, his bail pleas have already been rejected by Peshawar High Court in the past.

Marwat though continues to claim innocence - admitting only that he brought consenting adults to the school for adultery. Police in an FIR, however, has said that two mobile phones were recovered from his house which had objectionable videos of boys from his school. The FIR further states that Marwat turned child abuse and pornography into a hobby.

Recent months have seen anger against child abuse rising in Pakistan. The rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Punjab province of the country infuriated people with protests demanding strict punishment for the accused and tougher laws preventing crimes against women and children.