By: Asem Mustafa Awan
They scream and scream but there is no help as the tyrants ensure no sound come out and the legislators in Pakistan have mixed emotions over punishment for molesters and rapists.
How many more news headlines will need to be made to make these legislators realize that eye for an eye forms the very basis of justice system.
Pakistan has had cases whereby many an innocent spent their life time in jails in crimes they never committed and the practice still prevails
Justice should be seen and administered but the ‘land of the pure’ has probably become a safe haven for law breakers and crimes under the sun are committed without any fear.
Multiple factors are listed and aired from different people and experts but not a single remedy is suggested as what is the relief for the victim. No amount of money can remove the stigma and no amount of punishment can repair the damage done.
This scribe will quote two incidents from the past. The first one involves a Chinese rapist and the second has a Muslim rapist and the way justice was administered was a warning for all who witnessed.
The first was dealt by the Chinese authorities in a manner in which justice prevailed in a matter of hours.
The Chinese justice asked the victim did she scream when she was subjected to rape, on affirmative reply, the Chinese authorities placed guards to the very end where the scream could be heard.
The next step was to get all men in the area where the scream could be heard and victim was asked to identify and on identification the rapist was shot dead.A simple approach to deal with the crisis without any delay to mitigate the pain of the victim.Justice done and delivered.
The second incident involved a Muslim rapist in Africa and entire village was gathered in the ground. The victim was there and accused was brought in front of the village and ‘the very reason’ was chopped in front of the village to send a clear message to all community that any one harboring any ill will should take note of the consequences.
The legislation in Pakistan is like getting stars from the sky as all political parties follow their leadership, the element of human emotion and empathy is missing in the deliberations which is more on point scoring rather than for the victim.
Zainab case a couple of years ago witnessed the chief minister blocking the mic of the victim’s father. At that time enough hue and cry was made over the actions by the then Chief Minister and the police officials involved.
The man was arrested and hanged due to public pressure and outcry. The need of the hour is how many of these cases have been reported after the Zainab case and legislation that was done afterwards.
Now the recent case on Motorway showed how much interest the government and its officials had in arresting the culprit who ran from the scene and was a serial rapist.
The law of the land that exists only in papers and gives a very good reading for the readers as everything under the blue sky is listed and how to go about it by the law is written and charted.
This also take the reader to the utopian world and illusion bubble burst when one wakes up to reality which is totally opposite.
Pakistan has had cases whereby many an innocent spent their life time in jails in crimes they never committed and the practice still prevails.
Not long ago, a mother shot down the murderer of his son for whom she spent years in the court seeking justice and when the justice got ‘too late and too delayed’ she shot the murderer down herself and administered justice which should have been done long ago.
There is also a very alarming trend people with money buy the lawyers who purposefully delay the case to frustrate the affectees and in maneuvering with money and position they buy the victims lawyer who purposefully lose the case besides fleecing money from the victim.
The First Investigation Report regarding an actress and an influential contractor got quashed despite the headlines it made in the media. The whole matter with all the breaking news hushed up as if it never happened.
The mother killing the murderer in doing the justice speaks volume of the system that has made crooks making way in higher echelons. Not long ago there was a check made by the officers of the law to verify the degrees of the lawyers that are seen in the district court and many of them were found with fake very much like the Pakistan Air Line pilots who have been crashing planes on frequent intervals.
This alarming state of affairs depict how the system has been corrupted from bottom up to the top and there is no ray of hope for the for the poor and down trodden masses.
It is after 33 day the big bang was made about the main accused of Motorway rape case. The media highlighted the role of the government in arresting the accused but what about the people who escaped during these 33 days raping and molesting the children.
What happened to them how many arrests were made and how many have been on the run and how many managed to grease the palms of government officials against the public wishes.
It is also worth mentioning that this is happening everywhere and it is the muffled screams that are heard and public responding to these incidents and making sure the culprits are thrashed before handing them over to authorities. The government officials took 33 days to arrest the accused while public is nabbing the culprits who are later released on bail to commit more such heinous acts. The conviction rate of these rapists is less than five per cent and the illusion that surround ‘land of the pure’ gets punctured with statistics that are always under reported.
