Death after death

The death of a young child is probably the most tragic part of life and difficult to accept. Take for example the death of little Ayyan, a two-year-old Syrian toddler whose body washed ashore on a beach in Turkey which shocked the world and brought about an outpouring of grief throughout the world.

However, there are deaths that are completely avoidable simply if a little more attention and priority is accorded to safety measures by the relevant authorities.

The death of another child has been reported in Karachi as he came in contact with an electric pole and got electrocuted in Mawachh Goth. Earlier another child met a similar fate on the outskirts of Karachi when electric wires fell on him resulting in his death. The deaths of both the children can be attributed to sheer apathy and negligence on the part of K-Electric, the company not only responsible for supplying electricity but also for ensuring the best safety standards in maintenance of its facilities even in the remotest parts of the city. K-Electric is wholly and solely responsible for the deaths of these young children and the law should not be lenient and hold them accountable for such reprehensible acts of callousness.

K-Electric must be indicted if not for involuntary manslaughter it should be booked for gross criminal negligence. Obviously the company will agree to compensate the aggrieved family for their irreparable loss but this should not absolve them of their lack of responsibility and gross mismanagement. The Chief Justice of Pakistan has taken suo-motu notice of many such cases and already the issue of child abuse is drawing a lot of attention from law courts and media.

Financial compensation while easing the material needs of the bereaved cannot in any way assuage the trauma they have suffered for the rest of their lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2018.

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