Daily Times

LARKANA: Civil society activists, trade union, political and religious parties condemned the brutal rape and murder of a nine-year-old Saima Jarwar during a press conference on Monday. They demanded to fasten the pace of investigations into the case and arrest the culprits as quickly as possible.

The Sindh child rights movement (CRM) coordinator Kashif Bajeer, Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (F) leader Nasir Mehmood, chief of jarwar tribe Sardar Ali, Larkana chamber of commerce president Masood Sheikh, Jamat-e-Islami district ameer Kashid Saeed, Larkana Shehri Itehad president Niaz Abro, civil society activists Afzal Shaikh, Yasir Jatoi, Junaid Dahar, Qadir Bux Kamanger, Advocate Sattar Hulio, Aziz Qasmani and notables attended the press conference.

Kashif Bajeer said that the numbers of cases of sexual assaults on children were increasing exponentially in Sindh while the government adopted no ‘serious’ measures over the issue. He said that abductions, rapes and murders of Zainab, Asma and Saima are “heinous examples of the scourge of child abuse”. “Sadly, her murderers have not been arrested yet,” he said.

He informed that in the year 2018, 166 incidents of child abuse were reported in Sindh. Naseem Jarwar, victim girl’s father, accused the police of protecting the murderers. The speakers demanded Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Sindh High Court (SHC) and Inspector General of Police (IGP) AD Khawaja to take a stern action against the incident and deliver justice that serves as a deterrent for other criminals.

Furthermore, they demanded CCTV cameras to be installed in the city.

“Government should establish and empower children rights centres and committees at district level,” they remarked.

The speakers declared to observe a shutter-down strike on May 5, 2018.

Published in Daily Times, May 1^st 2018.