After the tragic incident of 6 year old Zainab in 2018, Pakistan again sees the ugly face of child rape in its communities, as a 5 year old girl was reported missing and was found raped and murdered, 2 days later.
PIB police station Station House Officer (SHO) Shakir Husain said “that the five-year-old victim, Marwah, had been kidnapped and raped before being murdered and torched”.
The girl’s body was found in piles of garbage on an empty plot of land in the Old Sabzi Mandi where she was reported missing 2 days prior.
Torched body of minor girl taken for autopsy
The body was taken to Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre where a post-mortem examination was conducted. According to the autopsy report, the victim had been sexually assaulted and had died from head injuries.
Read more: Child Rapist Awarded Death Penalty in Lahore
One individual has been taken into custody for interrogation, the SHO said.
The kidnapping, rape and murder of the child has angered the people residing in the area, who took to the streets to stage a protest on the Main University Road, after her burial in the morning. Some men, carrying sticks, were seen asking commuters to take alternative routes and the main road from Hasan Square to New Town was closed for traffic.
PTI lawmaker Jamaluddin Siddiqi, who attended the protest as well, told Dawn that SSP Investigation (East) Farrukh Ali had met with the protesters and told them that a man had been arrested and his DNA samples were sent to a lab in the University of Karachi to ascertain his involvement in the crime. Siddiqi said that he had requested the demonstrators to clear the road for traffic but they continued to protest against the brutal incident.
5 year old girl raped: Protesters demand justice for Marwah
Demonstrators pleaded Pakistanis to rise up and demand justice for the victim, recalling a similarly gruesome case of child rape in 2018 and how the nation had become one and stood together for six-year-old Zainab Ansari who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Kasur. Zainab’s rapist and murderer was hanged in October 2018.
Read more: Multiple death sentences handed to Zainab’s Murderer
Zainab’s gory murder had sparked outrage in the country and raised questions over the security of children and responsibilities on the part of the authorities concerned to prevent increasing incidents of child abuse in Pakistan.
The latest incident also caused public anger with many taking to social media to express themselves. ‘Justice for Marwah’ was the top trend on Twitter on Sunday as users demanded justice for the victim.
How many molested children bodies will be enough to awaken this rotten justice system? When will the state deliver actual justice?
Requesting the concerned authorities to take exemplary action against perpetrator #JusticeForMarwah— Tehrim Nawaz (@Tehrim_Navaz) September 6, 2020
#JusticeForMarwah افسوس کی بات ہے آج پورا دن لوگ احتجاج کررہے تھے۔ کوئی مطمئن تسلی بحش جواب نہیں ملا رشتہ داروں کو۔ دو دن سے لاپتہ تھی پولیسُ نے کوئی کوشش نہیں کی
— Nasib Zaman (@NasibZaman5) September 6, 2020
Earlier this year, the Senate approved the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Bill, 2019, carving the way for the child protection legislation to become a law thus ensuring the protection of all minors. A helpline has been set up to report missing children and that Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA) has been established to issue alerts for any missing child.
Read more: Gang rape silenced: An ugly face of Pakistan’s criminal justice system
Under the new law, ZARRA will work with all the relevant federal and provincial authorities and law enforcement agencies, and will keep an online database of missing children with their current status that is to be updated regularly.
GVS News Desk