Pakistan continues to suffer from mounting cases of abuse, kidnapping, rape, and killing of women and children. There seems to be no end in sight. Whether it is the brutal rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Kasur or the abduction, gang rape and stoning to death of the 6-year-old girl Marva in Karachi, there are three things that stand out most conspicuously in all of them. First, none of these cases were reported to any of the multiple Helpline numbers that exist in the country today. Second, the FIRs were not registered immediately, but after a gap of a few days. Third, the police search, rescue and recovery operations started only after cases received national attention, specifically through online platforms.
The Zainab Alert Response and Recovery Act, passed on March 24, 2020, was intended to remove precisely these three shortcomings. However, the Federal Cabinet and the Human Rights Ministry have failed to bring about substantial change. It is about time that authorities started playing an active role in implementing the Zainab Alert Response and Recovery Act effectively. Apart from coming up with long-term solutions, the need of the hour is to create a single nationwide Helpline for all emergencies.
Naeem Sadiq
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2020.
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