Justice for cannibals?

It is amply debatable whether Farman and Arif, the Bhakkar cannibals, deserve to be held in prison at all following the Anti-Terrorism Court’s ruling. Cannibalism is tricky to deal with as it has not been addressed sufficiently in the law books, no precedent has been brought to the fore and the act itself stands out as remarkably fiendish from amongst all possible human aberrations. What are the men being charged with? Clearly, the act of exhuming bodies from graveyards to address freakish gastronomical desires cannot be charged with murder and clearly, the practice of exhuming bodies itself does not qualify as an act of terror under the law. Why, then, were the services of a special court being solicited?

It must be understood that confinement in jail, for 12 years or 1,200, will do little to root out anomalous habits and desires which in all likelihood may have their origins in behavioural disorders or personality defects. Psychiatric and psychological assistance should, therefore, be given due consideration as cannibalism, while being shocking and horrid and grotesque, is a case of deviant human behaviour. It may well be that the men are afflicted by a condition known as necrophagia — a fetish for dead bodies. Madness, after all, cannot be termed a ‘crime’.

Moreover, the brothers’ detainment will make for a very trying 12 years for the inmates of whichever jail they are held in. Jail conditions in Pakistan are already quite appalling, with terrible living conditions, widespread sexual assaults and instances of poisonous food being served to prisoners. Placing a couple of convicts with proven cannibalistic tendencies amongst the prisoners will do much to add to their unease, even if the brothers are kept in separate cells. Furthermore, it won’t in any way rehabilitate the two men. The case of the Bhakkar cannibals may just be an invaluable opportunity for the justice machinery to widen its horizons and prove that it is not just a system which punishes thoughtlessly, but one that is thorough and willing to address the crimes at their root causes, and provide true justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2014.

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