KARACHI:
As the recent motorway gang rape incident took the country by storm, it is unfortunate to see the government backing the call for public hanging and chemical castration of the perpetrators without understanding the causes that result in such horrendous crimes.
Research data and experience of majority of nations in the world show that cruel, inhuman and derogatory punishments do not solely deter crime. Pakistan has for long been trying to control the crime by increasing the severity of the punishments and extending death penalty over a range of crimes, but to no avail. If we turn the pages of history, we will find that at one time in England, there was a death penalty for stealing mares. But that alone didn’t stop the crime. What brought an end to such crimes was bringing far-reaching reforms in criminal justice system, besides increasing job security and prospects, addressing public concerns and grievances, providing education and creating awareness.
Thus, the key to effective crime management does not lie in announcing punishments that violate the dignity of humans but making legal processes robust under the majestic rule of law that ensures that no criminal escape being caught and punished.
While very young girls and women continue to get raped by inexplicable regularities in our country, it is unfortunate that no governments have ever taken a step to sponsor any study or research that highlights the causes of assaults on young girls or have made any attempt to educate the people as a mechanism of protecting the victims.
In this respect, there is need to carry out structural reforms in criminal justice system, strengthen the rule of law and open avenues for studying the nature of crime from diverse and all-encompassing perspectives instead of proposing death penalty that is already present in the law. And more than that what is extremely significant is to eradicate the myopic roots of patriarchy and suppression that have haunted the lives of women in the country. In this regard the state institutions need to play a crucial role to establish gender equality otherwise all efforts to protect women will go in vain.
Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 28th, 2020.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
