Lawmakers demand public hanging for rape culprits

Several lawmakers from the treasury as well as opposition benches while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Monday called for publicly hanging those found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering women and minors amid denial that the recent gang-rape did not take place on the motorway.

As Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Khawaja Asif, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Amir Liaquat Hussain and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Abdul Shakoor supported public hanging of the culprits, Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed maintained that the sexual abuse of the victim in front of her children did not occurred on the motorway.

“It did not happen on motorway but I take responsibility for the incident being a male member of the society, being a member of the parliament," Saeed said while speaking on the floor of the House.

He lamented that the debate was not taking place on how to give exemplary punishment to culprits and on the drawbacks in the system, how the system should be fixed, how the incident had affected other women and how women and girls can be empowered.

Instead, he said, the focus was on two things: First, that Murad Saeed should resign, and the other, who built the motorway and the laboratory for forensic examination.

“It does not matter where the incident took place.  Wherever it happened I take the responsibility,” he said, urging the house to get united in giving hope to women that they were safe.

Commenting on the phone call made by the victim to 130 helpline, Saeed said he himself had heard the call where the woman told the officials about an empty fuel tank, adding that she was subsequently connected with the people concerned.

On the inspector general’s letter about the deployment of police on the motorway, Saeed clarified that the IG did not write a letter but had replied to eight previous letters.

In a response to ghastly cases of sexual assault in the country, the lower house of the parliament debated on different aspects of the motorway incident, including the insensitive remarks of Lahore CCPO, and floated different suggestions.

The assault of the woman and the recent brutal killing of a five-year-old in Karachi were unequivocally and strongly condemned during the session, which simultaneously signalled the mentality and mood of the lawmakers in parliament.

Before the lawmakers responded to the sexual assault cases in the country, the NA extended the International Court of Justice Review and Reconsideration Ordinance 2020 for another 120 days and granted approval for sending two bills – The Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Waqf Properties Bill – to joint session of the parliament. Both the bills had been passed by the NA but rejected by the Senate.

Opening the debate on the motorway tragedy, Opposition Leader in NA Shehbaz Sharif lambasted the government, saying it was stuck in the debate over the jurisdiction of the location and that the world had never witnessed a police officer saying why the victim took a specific route after the midnight with her kids and without checking the fuel tank.

Shehbaz said the premier had politicised a minor’s rape and killing incident in Kasur but was yet to utter a word on the motorway incident.

“It has become his habit that he becomes silent when the nation needs him as the prime minister,” he said, and added “PM is more interested in pushing the opposition to wall.”

The opposition leader questioned why the motorway police was not deployed despite IG’s letter informing the high-ups that the matter was pending. “It was criminal negligence,” he said.

Shehbaz demanded an inquiry into the motorway incident, saying a committee of the house should be formed and tasked to determine why deployment of security officials was delayed and why the police officer made callous statement on the incident.

Criticising the government for its alleged failure on sugar, wheat, medicine and petrol crisis, he took credit for building motorway and forensic laboratory in Lahore, saying they were built during PML-N’s tenure.

“Those whom the PTI has appointed to fix the PML-N will one day be fixing them [the PTI],” Shehbaz said while referring to the appointment of Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Shaikh.

“If not 100 percent, 95 percent police officials were appointed on merit during the PML-N tenure,” he said.

Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari called for bringing a change in the mentality of people and added that men should be locked up at homes if they cannot control their emotions.

She, however, said that the lawmakers should cautiously speak on capital punishment for culprits.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s Abdul Qadir Patel reminded that the past two years were filled with such cases, adding that on one hand, the police officer said that it was wrong for a woman to go out at night alone while on the other, the minister was asking the house to reassure people that they were safe.

“There is no room for trust and confidence when such statements are issued,” he said.

The PPP leader emphasised on the implementation of laws and pointed out that there was a penalty for every crime in the constitution.

Nawaz league’s Khawaja Asif favoured public executions, saying this is what the history of the religion showed.

“We have abandoned different things considering them old but such [rape]culprits should be hung publicly,” he said.

He regretted that that no one had been held accountable in the Sahiwal incident.

Commenting on Mukhtaran Mai’s case, Asif recalled that “former military ruler Pervez Musharraf while sitting in the highest office of the country had said that such incidents happen for getting foreign citizenship”.

Meanwhile, as the NA Speaker Asad Qaiser gave the floor to Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, the opposition parties started protesting and chanting slogans against the Lahore CCPO.

Expressing that CCPO’s statement was condemned at every level, Akbar provided updates on investigation regarding the motorway rape incident to the house.

He said the incident had occurred on September 9 on a link road near the motorway.

“The medical evidence was collected and geo-fencing done. Mobile phones active within a radius of five kilometers had been monitored,” he said.

Akbar maintained the IG police had confirmed to him that the DNA samples collected had matched with those of the suspect and that the accused had also confessed to his involvement in the crime.

Ruling party’s Aamir Liaquat Hussain also gave an emotional speech and demanded public hanging for child rapists.

Following the slugfest over Akbar’s speech, the NA speaker adjourned the house until Tuesday as opposed to his earlier intention to continue the proceedings till midnight.