Daily Times

Diya Bheel’s headless and tortured body was discovered in a field near Sinjhoro, Sanghar District in Sindh (257 km from Karachi), on December 28. Diya was a native of Goth Deputy, Tal Sinjhoroa 40-year-old widow who worked on the farm of a local landlord. Many people shared the news of Diya’s murder on Twitter and shared images of her body. Some wrote about the extent of the torture on her body: – ‘the skin of her face was peeled, and her breasts were chopped’. The Sindh Police has registered an FIR under the Anti-Terrorist Act, and a few suspects have been taken into custody for interrogation. According to sources, Diya Bheel’s husband, Tallu Bheel, had passed away, and she had no known enemies.

Diya Bheel’s horrific murder brings back memories of the murders of Noor Makadam, Sara Iman, Aneesa, and Arooj Abbas-to name a few-in the last two years.

Bheel’s murder is a little different from the others as she was a Hindu, a minority religion in Pakistan, otherwise, the brutality and the inhumanity with which the murders were committed are the same.

On the other hand, her murder is like NoorMakadam – both women were tortured and decapitated. We know Noor’s murderer knew her and her murder involved emotions and rage. The similarities between these cases could help in tracing Diya’s murderer.

Forensic experts think acts like decapitation are very close-contact acts and take time. This could mean the murderer is bold and powerful. Psychologists think this is a way of showing power over the victim in life and death, and a lack of empathy. Narcissism, perhaps?

Diya Bheel’s horrific murder brings back memories of the murders of Noor Makadam, Sara Iman, Aneesa, and Arooj Abbas-to name a few-in the last two years.

The media constantly reports violent crimes against women in Pakistan but there are so many others that are under the radar. And there is no official data available to reveal the actual situation on the ground. This means many cases are not being reported and thereby missing giving the wrong data on an extremely important issue and giving authorities an excuse to pay little attention to them.

Fortunately, some NGOs and organizations are keeping an eye on the cases and compiling data on crimes against women from media and police records. Recently, Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) – an NGO -released a report on violent crimes against women (January to October 2022) based on data from media reports and the Sindh police.

According to SSDO’s report,3088 cases of rape (including gang rape and murder during/after rape) of women were reported (2022) in Punjab as compared to 4329 in 2021.

Sindh seems to be faring better than Punjab, at least on paper, with 114 murders across Sindh between January and October 2022. The report also reveals that Islamabad has been extremely bad for women in the last two years with a 334.21% increase in violence against women and 321.74% rapes of women.

If the actual numbers of crimes against women were computed, they would be shocking. Fortunately for the perpetrators, they live in a patriarchal society where killing a woman/child/transgender is not considered to be a serious issue.

Many murderers and rapists don’t even get caught, let alone punished. Sometimes the victim’s families cover up the murders or settle with the murderer(s) under labels like honour and justice. This happens again and again. Recently, Peshawar High Court allowed a rapist to not only be free for a non-compoundable offence but also wed the victim

Of course, society had no qualms about the trauma the victim will carry with her for the rest of her life. It seems that as far as everyone is concerned, this case has a happy ending. No one is concerned about the victim. The decision reveals that her feelings and emotions have not been considered. She is supposed to accept her future as society deems fit.

Forcing her to live with the rapist – the man she hates the most in the world – as his wife for the rest of her life. Apart from that, the rapist has been given freedom and released into society, where he will be able to rape again. And when he does, who will be responsible? But no one cares.

Society needed a quick fix by sacrificing the victim’s whole existence for the rest of her life only emboldening the criminal and others like him.

As for Diya Bheel, she may or may not get justice, which depends on the hype people and civil society will be able to generate in media and social media coverage. Right now, the hashtag #JusticeforDiyaBheel is being shared on Twitter but more likely, Diya will become another statistic in a report on violent crimes against women, only to be remembered when another crime is committed.

The writer is a journalist who writes on gender, human rights, social issues, and climate. She is currently working as IFJ’s Pakistan’s Gender Coordinator and Media Trainer.