Daily Times

LAHORE:Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Sunday took notice of an under production television film whose plot was based on the brutal incident of rape and murder of eight-year old Zainab in Kasur.

The chief justice, who was heading a two-judge bench of the apex court at Lahore registry, took notice of the matter on a request filed by the deceased child’s father Muhammad Amin Ansari. The latter had pleaded the top court to issue a restraining order against the production and broadcast of the film.

In a directive issued later, the chief justice summoned a report on the matter from federal as well as provincial authorities. Addressing the Advocate General of Punjab, he said such films should not be made. The victim’s father had earlier served a legal notice on the private TV channel for making a film named ‘Zainab Ke Qaatil’. In the notice, Ansari maintianed that the film caused distress to him and his family and violated their fundamental rights. According to promotional material made public, the telefilm has 65 characters and has been written by Umera Ahmed. Kashif Kabeer, the executive producer of the project, has been quoted as saying that the telefilm would be screened in cinemas and international festivals. Zainab, who had gone missing on January 4 from Kasur’s Kot Road area, was found killed after sexual assault on January 9. The horrific incident triggered widespread outrage and protests across the country with people calling for public execution of the culprit. The suspect was caught within a few weeks and was later sentenced to death by an Anti-Terrorism Court. His sentence is yet to be executed.

Published in Daily Times, June 4^th 2018.