News Analysis |
An eight-year-old girl was raped and killed in Kasur. She was found dead after being missing from her home for five days. Massive protests have erupted across Kasur that have become extremely violent. All the shops in the entire area have been closed and it has been reported that the police has opened fire at the scene and four men have been seriously injured outside the DPO office.
Two men have died as a result of this shooting and Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab Law Minister, has refused to acknowledge this incident and is denying these claims despite television coverage of the police shooting. Various television channels across the country have managed to procure the CCTV footage of the criminal who kidnapped the young girl.
The media and the heads of the major political parties are mostly preoccupied with slandering one another and indulging in long winding debates about the morality of politicians like Imran Khan.
The footage shows him holding her hand and walking away from a nearby bakery, however the police claims that they have not yet procured the video and no subsequent arrests have been made. In the past year 12 girls have disappeared in Kasur so the frustration of the people can be understood. The legal system of Pakistan is in an abyss of confusion and darkness. Any legal system that fails to take immediate action against heinous crimes such as rape and murder, is a system that cannot defend the law let alone implement it.
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The justice system is supposed to dispense justice at any and every cost, in and under every circumstance. Justice in itself cannot be circumstantial. The justice system has failed to apprehend the criminals, it has failed to punish and sentence the perpetrators of rape and murder and most importantly it has failed to create deterrence. The first and foremost duty of the criminal justice system is to give punishments in proportion to the crimes so that the criminals of these inhumane crimes are brought to justice.
The severity of sentences and extremity of punishments for certain crimes is what prevents potential criminals from committing those crimes. If one knows that committing rape and murder has zero tolerance in a society and the punishment will be a death sentence, how many children would actually be in danger?
This incident of the rape and murder of an innocent girl begs to question why these incidents continue to take place in Pakistan and more importantly, once they do occur, why is the dispensing of justice a matter of choice and not a compulsion.
Kasur is the place which is infamously known for the heinous child abuse scandal that took place in 2015 in which 300 children were sexually abused and filmed for purposes of child pornography causing the whole nation to be traumatized. The government and the Prime Minister at the time, Nawaz Sharif, gave innumerable pledges to administer justice under every circumstance and swore to avenge the victims of this sexual exploitation by punishing the perpetrators with extreme severity.
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However, despite their tall claims to provide the victims’ and their families with justice, the Punjab Government has failed to sentence the perpetrators along with also failing to design and implement preventive policies that could have contributed to the prevention of this atrocity from being repeated.
Despite the nationwide trauma that took place after the child abuse scandal and the constant pressure on government bodies to address the issue by sentencing the perpetrators and implementing strict laws that prevent such outrageous crimes, the Punjab Government has taken no significant steps towards the attainment of justice. Following the child abuse scandal, the National Commission for Human Rights requested the Punjab police chief to investigate the “callous ineptitude and criminal negligence in preventing child sexual abuse in Kasur and prosecute all those who were involved and responsible”. The Punjab police and authorities did not offer an adequate explanation or follow up with the NCHR regarding the child abuse case.
Shockingly, sexual abuse, exploitation, rape and murder have become such a usual occurrence in Kasur that the police authorities have grown desensitized to one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed by man.
It is important to note that in September 2017, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) acquitted seven men in one of the nine cases police had registered in the Kasur child abuse scandal. The presiding judge, Chaudhry Muhammad Ilyas, acquitted Saleem Akhtar Sherazi, Attiqur Rehman, Tanzeelur Rehman, Haseem Amir, Aleem Asif, Waseem Abid and Naseem Sheraz, giving them the benefit of the doubt.
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The situation has become dire because the people of Kasur can no longer afford to rely on the inefficient law and order authorities, the police or the government. Television channels are reporting that twelve such incidents have been recorded in recent months involving rape and murder of innocent children.
Kasur is the place which is infamously known for the heinous child abuse scandal that took place in 2015 in which 300 children were sexually abused and filmed for purposes of child pornography causing the whole nation to be traumatized.
However, the police have refused to take any measures to investigate or arrest the perpetrators of these ignominious acts. Shockingly, sexual abuse, exploitation, rape and murder have become such a usual occurrence in Kasur that the police authorities have grown desensitized to one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed by man. The law enforcing personnel is mostly preoccupied with participating in political rallies and political operations.
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The media and the heads of the major political parties are mostly preoccupied with slandering one another and indulging in long winding debates about the morality of politicians like Imran Khan. This incident of the rape and murder of an innocent girl begs to question why these incidents continue to take place in Pakistan and more importantly, once they do occur, why is the dispensing of justice a matter of choice and not a compulsion for the courts in Pakistan?