Tribune Take: 10 times society failed our women, children during the year

Exposing the brutalities faced by women, children - including rape, acid attacks, kidnapping

Standing at the sixth position on the World Crime Index in 2014, Pakistan has moved significantly higher up the ladder – at 71, in 2019. However, cases of abuse against women and children continue to send shockwaves across the country.

Social media has been abuzz all year long, with reports exposing the brutalities faced by women and children in the country – from kidnapping to acid attacks, to rape.

Woman tortured after refusing to dance for husband

In March, a video of a woman narrating an incident of domestic abuse went viral on social media, leading to several ministers taking note and registering an FIR (First Investigation Report) against the accused.

In the video, the woman recounted the abuse she experienced at the hands of her husband – and his employees - after she refused to dance for their entertainment.

“He has always beaten me but this time he even shaved my hair off and hit me on the head with a manhole cover,” she narrated.

The woman explained that her husband stripped her naked in front of his employees, and they held her down while he shaved her hair off.

“My clothes were all bloody. I was tied with a pipe and he threatened to hang me naked from the fan.”

She said she escaped the house barefoot and reached Kahna police station where police officers forced her to pay a bribe in order to register an FIR.

 

Domestic help raped, killed by employer

Police arrested suspect Tauqeer Rafique after he raped and killed 18-year-old Maria, in Islamabad.

The victim worked for Rafique – the son of a millionaire property dealer – and was subjected to multiple sexual assaults by her employer.

She was raped several times and was pushed down the stairs after conceiving a baby.

The young girl was immediately rushed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital where the doctor confirmed that she was 12 weeks pregnant.

 

Transgender stabbed, left to die in apartment

Shabana, also known as Annie Khan, a 35-year-old transgender was stabbed to death, after unidentified assailants stabbed the victim in the head, face, arms and other parts of the body, with a knife.

The victim lived alone in her apartment and bled to death after the attackers locked her in the bedroom, where she succumbed to her injuries.

Police reports stated that the victim’s hair was chopped off before the murder took place.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Gender Interactive Alliance Founder and President Bindiya Rana expressed concern over the increasing number of cases of abuse against transgenders in Karachi.

 

Transgender person victim of acid attack, loses vision

Another transgender person Chahat - a resident of Rahim Yar Khan - was a victim to an acid attack after a heated argument with the accused Abdul Rehman.

The victim was shifted to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore where she underwent surgery after suffering burn marks on her face and chest.

According to transgender person Alishbah – who was present during the encounter - Rehman broke into Chahat’s house and threw acid on her.

Chahat complained that her vision was blurry after the attack, but was recovering after the surgery.

A case was registered against Abdul Rehman and a special police team arrested the accused.

 

Family dispute results in acid attack

45-year-old Nadia Maseeh fell victim to an acid attack on her way to work when two suspects intercepted the woman and threw a can of acid on her.

She was immediately rushed to the hospital, with injuries to the head, face and other parts of the body. The survivor was in critical condition and one of her eyes was also damaged.

Nadia’s husband Boota Maseeh believes the apparent revenge attack was because Hamayun – one of the suspects – and his family exchanged harsh words with Nadia over a marriage proposal.

The suspect was arrested shortly after the incident.

 

Remains of three minors found in Kasur

Kasur was under the spotlight once against in September 2019, after the bodies of three minors were found in Chunian tehsil.

The police believe that four children had been kidnapped since June – in separate incidents - before being killed, but the remains of only three of the children were found on September 17.

One of the victims had been identified as an eight-year-old boy and the remains of the other two could not be identified.

The accused Sohail Shehzada admitted during the investigation, that he was sexually abused as a child. He said he preferred children between the ages of 10 to 12.

Kasur Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sohail Tajik said Sohail was a rickshaw driver and would entice his victims by offering them rides on his rickshaw.

Sohail would stop on the outskirts of Chunian by convincing the children he needed wood. After stopping, he would molest the victims. If the children made noise, he would strangle them and dump their bodies in a ditch.

 

Man cuts wife’s nose after she refuses to make tea

The news of a man – along with his brother and cousin – chopping off his wife’s nose because she refused to make tea, sent shockwaves all across the country.

Parveen Bibi, a resident in the village of Saddar in Mian Chunnu , reported the torture she faced by her husband Dameera, his brother Ameera and cousin Mushtaq, when she refused to make tea.

The victim reported that she was subjected to domestic violence for several months at the hands of her husband, but this time she was “beaten brutally” – causing injuries to her hands, arms and other parts of the body.

Police arrested the accused.

 

Student’s blackmailed, harassed after secret CCTV camera footage leaks

Protests erupted inside the University of Balochistan (UoB) when the varsity’s security branch officer and surveillance in-charge blackmailed students with indecent video content, obtained through at least six secretly installed CCTV cameras in various areas of the campus.

The accused were blackmailing female students with the video footage and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing claimed that the accused were later arrested.

However, the university administration refuted the claim, calling it a “fabrication of facts”.

 

Pedophile confesses rape of 30 children

Rawalpindi police arrested a 45-year-old man after he kidnapped, drugged, raped and videotaped a young tea vendor.

During interrogation, the suspect, Sohail Ayaz admitted that he had raped over 30 children from different cities of the country, filmed their assaults and uploaded the videos online.

Rawalpindi Police Chief Faisal Rana reported that Ayaz was first deported from Italy for his involvement in a Romanian child pornography ring, after which he moved to the UK.

He was then deported from the UK after he was caught assaulting minors.

The paedophile was providing consultancy services to the K-P Public Secretariat Planning and Department, earning over Rs300, 000 each month.

 

Teenage girl abducted from Karachi’s Bukhari area

Social media went berserk when nineteen-year-old Dua Mangi was abducted from Karachi’s Bukhari Commercial Area around 8pm.

She was reportedly walking towards the car with her friend, Haris Fatah, when a car pulled over and grabbed her. The armed men shot Haris in the neck when he attempted to stop the kidnapping.

People took to the streets in protest and police turned to the citizens for any information related to the kidnapping.

A week later, Dua was released and returned home. South DIG Sharjeel Kharal said the investigation is underway.

Dua's family confirmed the kidnapping was for ransom.