Violence breeds violence: Shehzad Roy

Social media has ablaze with the fire ignited after a mother was gang-raped in front of her kids on the Lahore motorway earlier this week. While many are calling for the public hanging of rapists from hereon, singer and social worker Shehzad Roy has shared that he is against such punishment.

Roy, who is an avid child rights activist, took to Twitter to share his thoughts about the matter. "Whoever is demanding to hang any criminal publicly should not forget that there is enough research available that 'violence breeds violence'," he wrote.

He then followed it up with another tweet some hours later, explaining his stance. "I have done a lot to save kids from sexual abuse & corporal punishment. Rapists, child molesters, or criminals like them should be punished with the full force of law. I am against giving any punishment publicly," he reiterated, adding, "Do you want our young kids to see bodies hanging on chowks, choraha, and markets?"

While many people disagreed with him, calling for capital punishment for sex-offenders, some also backed his statement up. One user wrote, "It won’t make a difference until this pyramid is crushed," attaching a picture of a 'Rape Culture Pyramid'. "Till the misogyny and patriarchy are demolished. Sure there will be fanfare. But women will continue to suffer by and large. Public hangings are nothing but a spectacle to douse an enraged mob’s vengeance. It will fail."

On the same tweet, another person added his own thoughts, writing, "It's better for kids see bodies hanging as punishment instead of their mother being raped by a bunch of strangers in front of their very eyes."

Many others also echoed the same statement as above, albeit in different words.

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