Rape after rape
It is the height of irony that women who give birth to men are subjected to rape and many other kinds of violence around the world, and Pakistan is no exception. A Thompson Reuters survey has revealed Pakistan as the sixth-most dangerous country in the world. Things have been worsening by the day. In the latest case, a 19-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by four men in a car on a motorway near Gojra. The crooks trapped the girl on the pretext of giving her a job. The alleged rapists escaped after abandoning the rape survivor by the roadside. What makes the incident doubly horrifying is that a woman reportedly collaborated with the alleged gang of criminals. The Gojra city police have arrested two of the accused named Hamad and Rehman. According to official statistics, more than 22,000 women have been raped or gang-raped over the past six years in the country, and only 77 of the accused have been convicted. Experts are of the view that the dismally low rate of conviction has resulted in the growing impudence of rapists hence the increasing incidents of rape, molestation and harassment of women.
A large number of rape incidents are not reported to the police because of the social stigma attached to rape survivors and the fear of reprisals from the side of the rapists. Ironically, society tends to blame the survivors more than the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Pakistan’s laws prescribe death sentence and imprisonment ranging from 10 years to 25 years for rape. The punishment for gang rape is death penalty. Unfortunately, even stringent punishment has failed to instill fear in criminal elements. Conversely, the growing boldness on their part is making women feel increasingly insecure. One reason for the poor rate of conviction is slack implementation of laws and the slow legal process. The whole situation shows that societal attitudes are seriously tilted against women. Now women are increasingly feeling they have to save themselves or they remain unsaved.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.