The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has rescued a 13-year-old girl in Karachi from a suspected dark web-linked network that allegedly instructed her to poison a cat before ordering her to seriously harm herself, officials said.
The NCCIA intervention followed intelligence shared by an international agency, which alerted Pakistani authorities to suspicious online activity and provided internet protocol (IP) addresses linked to the network.
According to NCCIA officials, the girl had become involved with an online group that assigned her dangerous tasks.
As part of the first task, she was allegedly ordered to poison a cat, resulting in its death. The second task involved instructions to inflict serious harm on herself.
However, NCCIA investigators managed to locate the girl before she could carry out the second instruction.
International intelligence leads investigators to girl
Officials said the international agency had provided IP addresses being used from 13 countries, including Pakistan.
The NCCIA’s Karachi team conducted a detailed investigation into the Pakistani IP address to identify the person using it.
Investigators initially examined the address as part of efforts to trace those involved in the suspicious online activity. However, they discovered that the person associated with the address was a victim rather than a perpetrator.
The investigation subsequently led authorities to the 13-year-old girl, allowing them to intervene before she could carry out the instructions to harm herself.
Parents unaware of daughter’s online activities
NCCIA officials said the girl’s parents were completely unaware of her involvement with the online network until investigators contacted them.
During questioning, the parents revealed that they had noticed changes in their daughter’s behaviour over the previous six months but had not linked them to her online activities.
The agency informed the family about the nature of the online interactions and the potential danger facing the teenager.
