Justice for assault victim

Letter June 10, 2019
Necessary steps should be taken to protect our children from falling prey to such monsters

HYDERABAD: After the dreadful and heartbreaking incident of the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Islamabad, another 11-year-old girl fell victim to sexual abuse on June 7 in Tando Muhammad Khan, Sindh. A* was forced to drink alcohol and was raped brutally by two men who are still at large. She was begging to save herself and is now crying for justice. There are numerous such cases in our country. Many such cases appear on social media, few get justice. In order to put an end to this, there must be united action. All political parties should work together to save our children and the whole country should stand by the victims until he/she gets justice.

Unfortunately, cases of child sexual abuse have increased in Pakistan, from nine cases a day in 2017 to 12 cases a day in the first six months of 2018. In January 2018, a seven-year-old girl named Zainab was raped and throttled to death in Kasur. The incident caused nationwide outrage in Pakistan. However, within the same month, a 16-year-old girl was raped and killed, and a day later, a 13-year-old boy was intoxicated and sexually assaulted by two men belonging to an influential family, in Sargodha. That same day, a 15-year-old boy was found dead in Faisalabad. Medical reports later confirmed a sexual assault. A few days later, the dead body of a 3-year-old girl named Asma was found in Mardan, who had been reportedly missing for 24 hours. Her postmortem report established that she had been raped before she was killed. Necessary steps should be taken to protect our children from falling prey to such monsters. The government seems to have failed to come up with an effective mechanism to protect the children of the country from becoming a victim of sexual abuse, clearly reflected through a surge in the number of child sexual abuse cases. Furthermore, parents, teachers, and community members must keep a lookout for predators in their vicinity. Special education should also be imparted to children in order to raise awareness about their safety and familiarise them with the concept of good and bad touch. Most importantly, there is a dire need for stringent laws and deterrent punishment for the culprits. Such beasts ought to be hanged publicly. The legislatures and law-enforcement institutions should enact appropriate laws and ensure their implementation. We ought to ensure a safer environment for our children.

Ishaque Junejo

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2019.

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