Sir: The horrific rape and murder of little Zainab from Kasur has rightly sparked outrage across the country. If it is possible for such a tragic incident to have a silver lining, it is that a discourse on the sexual abuse of children and the failure of our state and society to protect children has been sparked. On the other hand, social and main stream media has revealed that people are clamouring for the culprits blood. Even the Twitter activity of well known and otherwise liberal celebrities and politicians is demanding all sorts of medieval punishments for Zainab’s killer and all those who would dare harm children. Some of the suggested punishments include public hanging, burning at the stake, beheading and throwing the culprit into a vat of acid while he is still alive. This is an emotional response, and an understandable one. However, I urge all those who are demanding the grizzliest possible death for child abusers to remember that justice is not about emotional responses and vengeance. Justice is about achieving harmony and equilibrium in society. Capital punishment will not end the sexual abuse of children. After all, we started hanging terrorists in early 2015 but terrorism is still a problem in this country is it not? During Ziaul Haq’s era, murderers were hung, but that didn’t stop people from getting murdered in Pakistan. People who drank alcohol were also whipped in public, but this hasn’t stopped Pakistanis from drinking either. What we need instead is an in depth observation of our society, law enforcement and justice system so that we can understand why such incidents happen, especially why such incidents happen with such frequency in Punjab. Reverting to medieval morality will achieve nothing. ALAM ISHAQ Multan Published in Daily Times, January 15th 2018.