A man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly throwing a five-year-old boy into a canal in an attempt to force a woman to marry him.

The incident occurred in Gujranwala, according to police.

Ali Hassan, a resident of Faisalabad, had been pursuing a woman from a nearby village. When the woman refused his marriage proposal, citing concerns for her five-year-old son, Hassan allegedly abducted the child and threw him into the Chenab Canal.

Police apprehended Hassan after the boy was reported missing. During interrogation, Hassan confessed to throwing the child into the canal to remove the obstacle to his marriage proposal.

Rescue teams have launched a search operation to locate the missing child. The investigation is ongoing.