Unaccountable police

Despite public outrage over the alleged rape of two children by a policeman at police stations in Islamabad, it appears the police are still hesitant to punish the accused cops. While the station house officer (SHO) of Karachi Company police station has been suspended and the station clerk sacked for failing to lodge a first information report against the accused policeman, the SHO of Shams Colony police station - where the two children were allegedly tortured and raped - was only suspended for a few hours. At the bare minimum, an SHO being unaware of children being raped in his police station is either incompetent or in on it. Either way, he does not deserve to skate by unscathed. Meanwhile, senior cops, including the sub-divisional police officers for regions covering the two police stations, also appear to have suffered no consequences for the incompetence of their subordinates.

Several other heads need to roll as well because there is no way so few police officials could be involved in the crime and the attempted cover-up. Just the kidnapping of the two children alone would have required some assistance, whether direct or indirect. The FIR also says that after the accused cop tortured and raped the children at the police station, he moved them to another location in the Golra area, where he raped them again. He raped them at least one more time before dumping them at an orphanage. There is no way this horrific tale could be the work of just one man working on his own.

This is not simply a matter of policemen protecting each other from accountability or even a line-of-duty offence such as the use of excessive force or violation of police procedure. This is a crime that can carry the death penalty. Almost anyone who helps cover up death penalty crimes can be prosecuted for conspiracy. When the assistance is coming from law enforcers, the penalties should be even harsher, if only to ensure that other cops know that getting caught helping violent criminals means that it is not just their jobs, but their freedom that they will lose.