The Rawalpindi police have registered a case against and arrested a school teacher for allegedly raping a student, it emerged on Thursday.

Police spokesperson Sajjadul Hassan said the suspect, N*, was taken into custody on Wednesday night.

The case was registered at Saddar Wah Cantt police station on the complaint of the victim's mother, Nighat Bibi, under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

According to the first information report (FIR) registered on November 16, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the mother said her daughter, A*, six or seven years old, was subjected to the crime when she was at school.

"Upon returning home, the girl told me while crying that a male teacher — whose name she did not know — at her school had sexually assaulted her," the FIR quoted her as saying.

The complainant said she took her daughter to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital for a medical examination but was told by the hospital staff to come back with the police. She returned home and called her father-in-law and then headed to the police station, she said.

"I request that justice be provided to my daughter by initiating legal proceedings against the school teacher," the mother requested in the FIR.

Potohar Division Superintendent of Police Tasawar Iqbal said a "zero-tolerance policy" on violence, abuse and harassment against women and children was being ensured.

On November 6, in a separate incident, Rawalpindi police said they had registered a case against and arrested two men for allegedly raping their 14-year-old niece.

Last month, two children were allegedly sexually assaulted in two separate incidents in Rawalpindi's Kahuta and Jatli areas, according to police reports.

In September, a person complained to the police that a seminary teacher had allegedly sexually assaulted and tortured his younger brother in the limits of Waris Khan police area.