KARACHI – Police have arrested a man for getting naked in front of a female polio worker in Sarjani Town area of Karachi.

The incident took place on December 18 when the vaccinator visited a flat to administer anti-polio drops to children. The suspect came out of his houses without wearing a dress in order to harass the polio workers.

Police have registered a case against a suspect while legal proceedings have been initiated against him.

Earlier this month, a polio vaccination team in Karachi’s Korangi district was assaulted by a family refusing to immunize their children, marking yet another incident of violence against health workers striving to eradicate polio in Pakistan.

The attack occurred during a door-to-door vaccination drive in the locality. According to the police, members of the family, including both men and women, physically attacked the polio workers, injuring two of them. Two accompanying police personnel were also hurt in the altercation, with the attackers reportedly using sticks and snatching the workers’ mobile phones.

Police reinforcements arrived promptly, leading to the arrest of six individuals involved in the assault, including four women. The arrested suspects were identified as Samina, Mahjabeen, Amna, Iqra, Imran, and Sufiyan. All injured workers and officials were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.

Surge in Polio Cases

This year has seen a significant rise in polio cases in Pakistan, with 64 reported cases compared to just six in 2023. The latest case was recorded in Sindh, underscoring the urgency of vaccination campaigns in the region. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries in the world where polio is endemic.

The federal government recently launched a nationwide four-day polio immunization campaign targeting 143 districts, with over 400,000 workers aiming to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appealed to parents across the country to cooperate with the campaign, emphasizing the importance of vaccination to protect children from this preventable disease.