Abuse victims face police apathy in Punjab

Negligence by the police department continues unabated across Punjab as victims of sexual violence are left in the lurch.

The helpless rape victim of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway incident, who was stranded on the highway with her three children after her car broke down, was not an isolated case of police apathy towards citizens traveling in deserted areas.

In fact, the sexual assault incident during the late night hours reflects a deeply entrenched attitude of police apathy towards victims of sexual violence belonging to the vulnerable segments of society.

The motorway rape victim had called the National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) multiple times.

However, the NH&MP personnel who received the victim’s call reportedly forwarded it instead of taking action on receiving information about the heinous crime.

However, the victim did not receive a timely response from any organisation. A team of Lahore police reached the crime scene much later. Even after attending to the victim, they did not rush to look for the alleged rapists who were reportedly around.

One of the alleged rapists, Shafqat Ali, confessed during police interrogation that he and his accomplices kept hiding from one place to another for around two hours after the Dolphin Squad team reached the crime scene.

Punjab Police, in such cases, either acts indifferently, lethargically or attempts to sweep the issue under the rug by allegedly threatening victims. Fake encounters by police have also been reported to save themselves from allegations of criminal negligence in the performance of their duty.

This negative approach in cases of heinous crimes was also evident in the 2015 Kasur child sexual abuse scandal, Zainab rape-murder incident, and Chunian serial killing case during the past few years.

This is also evident from multiple cases of sexual assault on women and children across Punjab that did not surface until media focused on them and the crime incidents gained national attention.

A prime example of this was the incident of gang rape of a compounder during a robbery two months ago in Manawan. In a similar case, two weeks ago, a woman was raped in front of her husband in Raiwind. Besides this, many rape cases surfaced recently in Faisalabad.

In all these cases, the victims were either accompanied by their children or other women. The victims, like the motorway rape victim, approached the police multiple times. However, each time, police officials either dealt with their misery with indifference or threatened as well as gaslighted rape victims in a bid to sweep the cases under the rug.

In the 2015 Kasur child pornography scandal, the victims and their families had registered their complaint before local police. When their grievances were not addressed, they announced a long march to the provincial capital for justice. In response to the announcement, Kasur DPO Rai Babar Saeed used force to disperse the peaceful protesters.

In the Zainab murder case, the serial killer had been running a predatory spree for over a year. Police, rather than looking for the alleged rapists, seemed more focused on not letting the issue become public. Former DPO Ali Nasir Rizvi even shot dead a labourer just to pacify the family members of the minor rape victim.

In the Zainab rape and murder incident, then DPO Zulfiqar Ahmad ordered firing at protesters. The firing resulted in the death of two innocent people.

Police inaction also remained evident in the Chunian serial killing case. Each time the family of the deceased victims complained before police about their children going missing, the officials either asked them to wait or disregarded the concerns of the victims and their families.

Interestingly, whenever the cases surface on mainstream media, Punjab Police start employing all available resources to solve the cases. This reflects an approach of coming into action only after facing public pressure following incidents of sexual violence.

This police behaviour also epitomises the department’s tendency to cater to the interests of the powerful segments of society, be it individuals or institutions, while which the woes of vulnerable rape victims are left unaddressed. The department needs to be revamped to be able to serve the vulnerable.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2020.