Daily Times

It is pretty clear that Pakistan’s law enforcement system, as it exists and functions today, is simply unable or incapable of deterring rapes and rapists in this Islamic Republic. There was a feeling that this disturbing trend might begin to change once the famous, or rather infamous, Zainab rape and murder case got so much traction in government circles as well as the media a few years ago. And more recently, as cases of abuse, harassment, rape and violence against women mounted so rapidly, one felt that provisions of the law meant to arrest and deter such trends would be applied so forcefully that they would put the fear of God in criminals that prey on helpless women and children; and that too in the worst way possible.

Alas, it is not so. For, it seems that every new day brings more sickening headlines about rapes and murders of women up and down this country. The latest such incident, involving a woman and her daughter who had travelled from Vehari to Lahore to meet some relatives but were instead taken to a deserted place by their rickshaw driver and gang raped, has made Pakistani society sick to the stomach all over again. And while the Punjab chief minister ordered a quick inquiry and the arrest of the culprits very quickly in the full gaze of the media, there is something to be said about the police’s findings about the matter.

It turns out that the alleged rapist, one Umar Farooq, is a habitual offender and has a list of rape cases against him. Yet one is forced to ask, especially in light of the city’s police chief’ praise for his boys for apprehending the criminals rather promptly, that if he was a proclaimed offender and known rapist, and had a number of similar cases registered against him, then why was he allowed to be on the street? And wasn’t there some part of the police chief’s statement that boasted of identifying the alleged criminal so soon precisely because of this record?

It cannot be said strongly enough that the government, especially its law enforcement machinery, has failed to do its job when it comes to protecting the honour and lives of our women and children. They can say that there are laws to deal with all crimes, and if only they are implemented correctly such stats would automatically begin to diminish, but we have been hearing these excuses for years and each year the number of women assaulted in this country increases. The state should either put its foot down, implement the law as it is meant to be, and show a change on the ground. Or it must get new laws and find better ways of implementing them. Things simply can’t be allowed to go on as they are. *