Daily Times

Sir: Hearing the news about the recent atrocity in Kasur has left me heartbroken. At the young age of seven, Zainab was brutally abused, killed and thrown into a pile of trash. Her parents, who were in Saudi Arabia for Umrah returned home once they heard of the injustice their little angel had gone through.

It has been days now and Zainab’s killer remains at large. Whoever goes through this kind of trauma, whether its Zainab, Taiba or Jyoti Singh all have gone through the worst kind of torture. The government must act against all kinds of sex offenders and save the lives of our women and children!

Maham Yaseen

Turbat

Sir: As a man with three sisters, Zainab’s rape and murder has left me shocked and horrified. According to a report in 2017, 12 cases similar to Zainab’s had been registered with the Kasur police but they didn’t take any action. Right now it seems like the same is happening despite the fact that CCTV footage of the criminal exists. Zainab’s killer must be caught and justice must be served. The government and police must take action at once!

Alaf Fateh

Via E-mail

Sir: The horrific kidnapping, rape and murder of the angelic Zainab has deservedly sparked a public outrage. People have been clamouring for the apprehension and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators. However, unfortunately, the incident is being treated as an isolated one. Viewed shorn of its perspective, the incident might lose its potential to strike at the roots of such egregious crimes in the area.

As reported in the media, Zainab’s body was found four days after she was reported as missing. Yet, the police apparently treated the case with traditional apathy until her body was recovered and the case went viral over the media. Even before this case, 12 other children had also met a similar fate. Why did the police treat these cases as normal? Because these cases were indeed normal, for the area!

Not very long ago, a shocking scandal was unearthed in the same locality in which an organized gang, under the auspices of political and bureaucratic administration of the area, was found to have been raping, filming, and blackmailing hundreds of innocent children for years. An MPA belonging to the ruling party was also implicated in the case. As newer issues emerged on the media, this one soon faded from our collective memory.

As the chief justice, the army chief, and the leaders of the mainstream political parties have taken notice of Zainab’s case, I urge these dignitaries to demand an extensive and intensive enquiry into the case under a broader perspective.

Rahat Naseem

Karachi

Sir: The brutal murder and rape of seven year old Zainab in Kasur has shocked us as a nation. This is just a warning bell that has woken us up from our long slumber about child sexual abuse. We cannot go back to our unaffected and busy lives now. Zainab, like all other girls of her age was a happy carefree child. While going for tuition, she was abducted by a paedophile and after four days of searching was found strangled and dumped in a garbage pile not far away from her own house. We are angry as humans, we are embarrassed as a nation, we are ashamed for not being able to save an innocent life.

Riots have broken out and people are violently protesting in the district of Kasur. Youth, celebrities and politicians have taken social media by storm to express their rage over this horrible crime. But this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in the country. According to a report, every year about 5000 children are sexually abused in Pakistan. In the very same district of Kasur, child pornography and paedophilia were in the headlines for several weeks in 2015. But the judicial system failed to provide justice to those families resulting in more horrible, heart wrenching crimes. Predators like these thrive on our state of callousness and tendency to overlook issues considered taboo in our society.

This also brings forth the question of sexual education and consent that we need to impart to our kids. We really need to think where does this incident leave us as a nation, as parents and as guardians?  Why is it that we don’t educate our children on sensitive topics like molestation, sexual assault and inappropriate touch? Why are the kids who muster up the courage to report the crime to their parents not believed? According to a survey, every two out of five kids are abused or molested on a daily basis and in 50 percent of these cases, by none other than their own respected family members. I think its high time we teach our kids how to say no. And that requires them to first know what is inappropriate. Kids are vulnerable to anyone who has easy access to them. It is important that we teach our kids what sexual consent means. If children know what sexual abuse is they can speak for themselves and in lots of cases we can stop such heinous acts. We need to give our children the confidence to stand up for themselves by making them believe that no matter what happens, parents will always be by their side.

As a whole, Pakistan needs to reevaluate how it deals with such crimes, especially those targeting helpless children. We need to better our judiciary so it can convict criminals as soon as possible. I request all the parents, adults and teachers to please impart education on such topics. The state should take immediate action to make an example out of Zainab’s killer.

Rida Khan

Via E-Mail

Published in Daily Times, January 13^th 2018.