Act of depravity

The fact that most perpetrators of child sexual abuse are not apprehended only makes things worse

The terrible fate of the toddler who followed family members out of her house in Nazimabad, Karachi, as they went to buy medicine, and was found dead an hour later illustrates the state of a society that has become increasingly depraved and brutalised. The little girl, picked up by an unknown individual, had been strangled after being sodomised. She had presumably been killed to prevent any possibility that she identify her assailant. A post-mortem has confirmed the mode of death and the sexual assault. This, of course, is only one of multiple cases of such abuse committed against children. There have been reports of horrendous crimes of a similar nature, in Karachi, Lahore and other cities. The child abuse monitoring body, Sahil, documented 3,002 cases of child sexual abuse in 2013, based on press reports and cases directly brought to its attention. This marked a 7.67 per cent increase over the previous year. Sahil has also noted an increase in cases of abduction of children from one year to the next, with numbers rising steadily. In 2013, 148 children were murdered after sexual assault.

The child killed in Karachi adds to these figures. But, of course, she is not just a statistic. Just hours previously, she was a happy, lively child looked over by doting parents who expected to see her grow, enter school, play with friends and enjoy the other pleasures of childhood. Their hopes were snatched away from them. Instead, they must forever live with the knowledge of what happened to their child. The increasing lawlessness in society has taken a terrible toll on us. The fact that most perpetrators of such crimes are not apprehended only makes things worse. We need to assess how we have reached our present situation and how we can find a way to rescue ourselves. At present, we see a sense of helplessness all around: our law enforcers cannot keep us safe, our governments appear indifferent. These are challenges we must overcome so that people can be offered greater protection of their most basic rights.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2015.

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