Stringent action should also be taken against the erring police officials
KARACHI: I recently watched a series titled Delhi Crime on the streaming website Netflix. The crime drama is based on the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, and follows the Delhi police as they carry out investigations in order to find the rapists. The series focuses on the method of investigations employed by the police to apprehend the criminals and how they manage to be successful in their task. Despite the horrific details of the case, one still feels hopeful to learn that the police were successful and the perpetrators were served justice in real life.
In contrast, we see our criminal justice system that time and again fails to produce the alleged criminals. Recently, 10-year-old Farishta went missing and her father approached the area police station to file a complaint and to seek the assistance of the police in finding his daughter. The SHO, who was under legal obligation to not only register an FIR but also help her family find the girl, refused to register the FIR and told them to find the girl themselves. He insinuated that the 10-year-old might have eloped. Four days later, the girl was found murdered. She was also possibly raped. The state functionaries must become more sensitive to the agony of fellow humans that they are bound to serve. Moreover, commenting that a child as young as ten could elope, just so they can escape their responsibilities is both lamentable and ridiculous! Farishta’s rapists are yet to be apprehended, and there is not any development in the case. Even though such cases have unfortunately become very common across the world, how the law-enforcement agencies deal with such cases is what makes the difference. Following the horrific Nirbhaya case and the protests that it sparked, the police pursued the case till the end. However, despite the protests, our officials are still struggling to bring the culprits to justice. It is absolutely necessary to give the perpetrator beasts deterrent punishment. Stringent action should also be taken against the erring police officials.
Nasir Soomro
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2019.
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