Justice for a toddler

The deplorable rape of a two-and-a-half-year-old toddler in Lahore adds to the unending epidemic of child abuse in Pakistan and begs the question: are we continuously breeding generations of criminal minds? This requires an examination into the mental health and underlying causes that lead to such a prevalence of paedophilia and abuse, as well as the role of the law to prevent such criminal events. Earlier in February, a one-year-old girl was reportedly sodomised before being strangled to death. While archives of similar reports exist, investigation into why such incidents occur so rabidly does not — profiled neither by the authorities nor the country’s psychologists and sociologists. The documentary, Pakistan’s Hidden Shame, depicting the prevalent abuse of street children — at roughly 90 per cent — alluded to a survey in which one-third of men covered did not perceive such offenders as ‘bad’. Evidently, an attitudinal shift is needed from this criminal mentality in the country.

Whereas in a more well-developed legal system, the girl’s family would have reported the incident immediately, it is not surprising that it attempted to handle the case on its own. Law-enforcement agencies historically tend to be unworthy of trust when citizens are in need. Furthermore, the system of investigation needs improvement. Where a DNA test could help identify suspects, the body responsible for advising the Pakistani government on religious issues stated in 2013 that DNA tests should not be admissible as primary evidence in rape cases. Fortunately, the law has since been reformed though only four per cent of cases result in conviction, according to the NGO, War Against Rape. Justice for the victim will be a difficult trek and the family’s quest for it must be supported. Two and a half years is too short a life, especially to have experienced such height of suffering. The legal system needs to be reevaluated for full effectiveness with due process of law followed for any and every criminal in Pakistan’s territory.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th,  2015.

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