Violent crime spirals out of control in Lahore

Last week was marred by cases of tragic incidents including sexual assault of minor girl

LAHORE: The last week was marred with a few very brutal, traumatic and tragic incidents including sexual assault of a minor girl in Shahdara. Incidents such as the attack on DIG Shahzad Aslam by a police constable in Police Lines, Qila Gujjar Singh have created new challenges for crime prevention.

An incident of abduction of a trader for ransom in Manga Mandi and setting a teenage boy ablaze by unidentified suspects was also reported in the provincial metropolis.

The suspects involved in robbery at the house of the nephew of Prime Minister Imran Khan in Upper Mall Road were also arrested.

Lawyers and doctors also reached a truce this week. Lahore Capital City Police Officer Zulfiqar Hameed had played a role in the dissolution of the matter.

On Wednesday, a suspect named Amjad was arrested by Shahdara police for assaulting a seven-year-old girl. The offence had also been proved during medical examination and police investigations.

The accused had lured the victim with a small amount of money and took her to an abandoned haveli, near Saggian, where he sexually assaulted the victim. The victim remained locked in the place for at least six days and miraculously survived for almost a week without food and water.

Cases of sexual abuse, time and again, are surfacing and have become a matter of serious national issue. A few days ago, a case was reported in which a minor had been allegedly assaulted over 100 times by a seminary cleric. The cases of Chunian child sexual abuse and Zainab murder case in Kasur are also few other examples of the crisis.

The authorities concerned need to take concrete steps to counter these issues.

Recently, a lower cadre police official, a suspected police constable named Rafique attacked a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Shahzad Aslam with a sharp-edged weapon. Initial investigations are pointing towards poor mental health of the suspect.

Even if the incident was provoked due to issues of poor mental health, the issue is also worrisome and poses a question on the challenges faced by lower cadre police officials.

Mental health is the most common issue affecting many police officials and officers due to the nature of the job. There is no way of curing issues that create an environment of frustration and anger.

There have been multiple incidents of suicide during duty over various issues including pressure by senior police officers. The top brass of the department must accept the issue as a challenge like other challenges and add it into their priority list.

On Tuesday last week, a teenage boy sustained burn injuries on part of unidentified suspects in Karol Pind in Gujjarpura.

Three accused persons who looted the house of nephew of Prime Minister of Pakistan were also arrested by Lahore police. They have been identified as Mehmood Ahmed, Kazim alias Kaka and Fahad. Mehmood and Kazim are brothers while the third suspect named Fahad was their partner who used to live in the same locality where the family of the victim, Sher Shah Khan, is living.

Last week, doctors and lawyers reached an agreement during a meeting. The meeting was hosted by Lahore CCPO Zulfiqar Hameed.

Reportedly, doctors agreed to commemorate the three patients who died during the PIC attack by lawyers while the black-coat community agreed to stop pursuing cases of those involved in the violence during the attack.

The name of the nephew of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Hassan Niazi made headlines in another controversy over the week. After a vehicle collision incident with Zafar Ali Khan’s car while entering a club, Hassan allegedly started kicking the car of the victim. He also shouted at the driver. This was captured by CCTV footage.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2020.