Karachi (GNP): Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has rescued a 13-year-old girl from a suspected dark web linked online network, officials said. The group allegedly assigned her dangerous tasks, including poisoning a cat and later harming herself.
The rescue began with an intelligence alert from an international agency. It shared internet protocol (IP) addresses tied to suspicious online activity in 13 countries, Pakistan among them.
The NCCIA’s Karachi team started examining the Pakistani address to trace those involved. Investigators soon found that the person behind it was a potential victim rather than a perpetrator.
Officials said the girl had become involved with an online group that gave her a series of dangerous tasks. The first allegedly required her to poison a cat, which later died.
The group then instructed her to seriously harm herself. Investigators traced the address to her and stepped in before she could act on that second instruction.
Her parents knew nothing about her contact with the group until NCCIA officials reached them. They told investigators they had noticed changes in her behaviour over the previous six months but had not linked them to her online activity.
The agency then explained to the family the nature of the online interactions and the risks facing their daughter.
The NCCIA is now working to trace the accounts used to contact the girl and to identify those running the network. Officials are also examining whether other children in Pakistan were targeted through similar activity.
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The agency has not disclosed the identities or locations of the suspected operators. No arrests have been announced so far.
The dark web is a part of the internet that conventional search engines do not index, and it generally requires specialised software such as the Tor browser. It offers greater anonymity, which supports privacy and communication under restrictive conditions, but it is also associated with cybercrime, illegal trafficking and online exploitation.
Accessing the dark web is not inherently illegal in most jurisdictions, although using it to commit crimes is unlawful. The Karachi case highlights the danger of online groups that manipulate children into carrying out harmful tasks.
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
