Monday, May 16, 2005
Rapes of innocent girls' causing concern in Pakistan too!!!
http://www.nation.com.pk dated May 17, 2005 .... under OPED .......
Who cares?........
COL (RETD) RAFI NASIM.......
It is admirable that the nation has woken up to the slur of ever mounting incidence of rape in the country. While in a murder case the bereaved family forgets the loss and settles down after the passage of time, the consequences of a rape are disastrous. The incidence of rape casts a black spot on the family for the whole of life, as a result of which the victim never gets out of the trauma, the parents are looked down upon and other girls in the family get no marriage proposals. In our social system the family having lost the honor, is doomed forever. Despite this well known fact the people in power have the interests of rapists dear to their heart than the girls who lose every thing after the rape.It is disgusting that on account of ever rising corruption in our system the twisting of evidence and hushing up cases to protect the criminals, has become a common practice. The victim’s ordeal which starts from a police station not registering the case goes up to the High Court which also does not provide her the relief. In between falls a hoard of officials and influentials who play all the tricks to deprive the victim of justice. Take the famous Mukhtar Mai rape case. She was shoved in a room by the Panchayat with four or five gladiators following on her heels. After the alleged gang rape she was thrown out of the room half naked, picked up by her father with the help of others and taken home. With such a synopsis of the episode the incident appeared in the international press. To show sympathy with Mukhtar Mai, the President of Pakistan as well as some foreign welfare agencies provided financial aid to her which she rightly utilised for opening a school in the village. The High Court acquitted the culprits as if ‘nothing had happened’. For the argument’s sake let us accept that the evidence had been twisted or destroyed in such a way that the rape could not be proved, does not the ‘stripping of a woman’ fall under any section of the Pakistan Penal Code?What a wonderful legal system this land of the pure has, that once the aggrieved party stops pursuing the case, the file is closed. This is exactly what has happened in Dr Shazia’s case. Since her departure from the country with no hope of justice, there is no further progress in the case. It is all joy for perpetrators of the offence and the Sui Gas Company’s officials, who treating the incident as a ‘point of prestige’ made all possible efforts to hide it.The frustration of the aggrieved families is obvious because, the police which is supposed to be the custodians of law do not pay heed to such a heinous crime. Take the case of a college girl from Sialkot who was raped but the police did not register the case. In a fit of grief cum desperation her father attempted self immolation in front of the Lahore Press Club but was saved at the last moment. Taking notice of the incident, the President had to order an enquiry. With a General as Head of the state why do not we use the iron hand to streamline the system.Hundreds of rape cases are reported every month but we hardly read of a culprit having been severely punished. Let us have a glimpse of some of the incidents: In village Baseerpur four dacoits tied a zamindar with strings and gang raped his newly wed wife in front of him. The man recognised one of the culprits, still no action taken. A 12 years old girl belonging to a village in Muzafargarh was raped by two of her relatives. The father of the girl was so poor that he could not even afford medical treatment of the girl what to speak of pursuing the case with police or the court of law. He left the matter with the local panchayat to decide. Instead of punishing the culprits, the panchayat forced the man to compromise with the offenders in exchange for a sum of Rs 60,000.With the ‘no punishment syndrome’ that prevails in the country, the incidence of child rape and molestation are also on the increase. Among the cases having occurred recently, a four year old girl of village Bakhtewala was raped by a young man name Naveed while in Harbanspura a vagabond raped a six year old girl who used to come to his house to learn the Holy Quran from his wife. In a village of Sargodha district a seven year old girl was raped by a neighbour named Mazhar. In Sheikhupura a nine year old boy was molested by a young man named Zahid on gun point. Since the case was not registered for a week, the victim’s father was compelled to draw the attention of the Chief Minister.A glaring incident of rape in which Moazam son of Tawakal Ullah Virk, the Nazim of Sheikhupura is alleged to have raped their ten year old maid servant is the focus of attention these days. See how many twists and turns the case has taken because the culprit happened to be the scion of an influential family. Not only that the family of the girl was bribed or threatened to withdraw the case, the medical reports of the victim also disappeared from the hospital. The case is alive only because a brave brother of the victim did not succumb to the pressure and stood up even against the weak parents to pursue the case to the hilt.According to a press report over 15,000 cases of rape have taken place in the country during the last six years. The number of culprits arrested and punished would surely be equivalent to peanuts. I do not remember even one having been hanged for the crime. The apathy of our legal system is that the cases are kept pending for not months but years to give time to the culprits to twist or destroy the evidence. While the voice of the poor is not heard even by the ordinary cop, the influential and the affluent being above the law command the police force. The situation can only improve if the power of the powerful is taken away and they are taught to live and behave like normal citizens.As for the proof and punishment, if we continue insisting on the stone-age law of four witnesses, no offender will ever be punished. The DNA test has proved its worth universally and is treated as the authentic proof in such cases. The tsunami baby claimed by nine couples was handed over to the legitimate parents after the DNA test. A similar case also occurred recently in Pakistan too. I am a witness to the case of a female relative whose son settled in New York sponsored her immigration to the USA. To encounter the frauds that take place the Americans have resorted to the DNA test. A DNA test of the mother was conducted at the US Embassy in Islamabad while her 45 years old son was tested in New York. The tests being positive the lady was granted immigration to USA.The rape being the most heinous crime, its perpetrators deserve the severest punishment. Our religion prescribes death penalty for it. As suggested in one of my earlier articles, if we want to curb the crime, the provision of compensation and compromise must be abolished. While we are too shy of hanging the criminals, let me point out that in USA where many states have no death penalty, 59 criminals were executed last year.If the authorities still consider it too much. Let us accept a suggestion by Justice (Retd) Nasira Iqbal. Addressing a seminar organised by the Aurat Foundation she suggested that the rapists be castigated, as a punishment to eliminate this crime from the Pakistan society. The learned judge recommended, ‘Castration as punishment should be introduced since men greatly value their manhood’. Lot of trash goes on in the National Assembly every day. Why cannot we legislate on the above points of vital importance and get the ruling
Who cares?........
COL (RETD) RAFI NASIM.......
It is admirable that the nation has woken up to the slur of ever mounting incidence of rape in the country. While in a murder case the bereaved family forgets the loss and settles down after the passage of time, the consequences of a rape are disastrous. The incidence of rape casts a black spot on the family for the whole of life, as a result of which the victim never gets out of the trauma, the parents are looked down upon and other girls in the family get no marriage proposals. In our social system the family having lost the honor, is doomed forever. Despite this well known fact the people in power have the interests of rapists dear to their heart than the girls who lose every thing after the rape.It is disgusting that on account of ever rising corruption in our system the twisting of evidence and hushing up cases to protect the criminals, has become a common practice. The victim’s ordeal which starts from a police station not registering the case goes up to the High Court which also does not provide her the relief. In between falls a hoard of officials and influentials who play all the tricks to deprive the victim of justice. Take the famous Mukhtar Mai rape case. She was shoved in a room by the Panchayat with four or five gladiators following on her heels. After the alleged gang rape she was thrown out of the room half naked, picked up by her father with the help of others and taken home. With such a synopsis of the episode the incident appeared in the international press. To show sympathy with Mukhtar Mai, the President of Pakistan as well as some foreign welfare agencies provided financial aid to her which she rightly utilised for opening a school in the village. The High Court acquitted the culprits as if ‘nothing had happened’. For the argument’s sake let us accept that the evidence had been twisted or destroyed in such a way that the rape could not be proved, does not the ‘stripping of a woman’ fall under any section of the Pakistan Penal Code?What a wonderful legal system this land of the pure has, that once the aggrieved party stops pursuing the case, the file is closed. This is exactly what has happened in Dr Shazia’s case. Since her departure from the country with no hope of justice, there is no further progress in the case. It is all joy for perpetrators of the offence and the Sui Gas Company’s officials, who treating the incident as a ‘point of prestige’ made all possible efforts to hide it.The frustration of the aggrieved families is obvious because, the police which is supposed to be the custodians of law do not pay heed to such a heinous crime. Take the case of a college girl from Sialkot who was raped but the police did not register the case. In a fit of grief cum desperation her father attempted self immolation in front of the Lahore Press Club but was saved at the last moment. Taking notice of the incident, the President had to order an enquiry. With a General as Head of the state why do not we use the iron hand to streamline the system.Hundreds of rape cases are reported every month but we hardly read of a culprit having been severely punished. Let us have a glimpse of some of the incidents: In village Baseerpur four dacoits tied a zamindar with strings and gang raped his newly wed wife in front of him. The man recognised one of the culprits, still no action taken. A 12 years old girl belonging to a village in Muzafargarh was raped by two of her relatives. The father of the girl was so poor that he could not even afford medical treatment of the girl what to speak of pursuing the case with police or the court of law. He left the matter with the local panchayat to decide. Instead of punishing the culprits, the panchayat forced the man to compromise with the offenders in exchange for a sum of Rs 60,000.With the ‘no punishment syndrome’ that prevails in the country, the incidence of child rape and molestation are also on the increase. Among the cases having occurred recently, a four year old girl of village Bakhtewala was raped by a young man name Naveed while in Harbanspura a vagabond raped a six year old girl who used to come to his house to learn the Holy Quran from his wife. In a village of Sargodha district a seven year old girl was raped by a neighbour named Mazhar. In Sheikhupura a nine year old boy was molested by a young man named Zahid on gun point. Since the case was not registered for a week, the victim’s father was compelled to draw the attention of the Chief Minister.A glaring incident of rape in which Moazam son of Tawakal Ullah Virk, the Nazim of Sheikhupura is alleged to have raped their ten year old maid servant is the focus of attention these days. See how many twists and turns the case has taken because the culprit happened to be the scion of an influential family. Not only that the family of the girl was bribed or threatened to withdraw the case, the medical reports of the victim also disappeared from the hospital. The case is alive only because a brave brother of the victim did not succumb to the pressure and stood up even against the weak parents to pursue the case to the hilt.According to a press report over 15,000 cases of rape have taken place in the country during the last six years. The number of culprits arrested and punished would surely be equivalent to peanuts. I do not remember even one having been hanged for the crime. The apathy of our legal system is that the cases are kept pending for not months but years to give time to the culprits to twist or destroy the evidence. While the voice of the poor is not heard even by the ordinary cop, the influential and the affluent being above the law command the police force. The situation can only improve if the power of the powerful is taken away and they are taught to live and behave like normal citizens.As for the proof and punishment, if we continue insisting on the stone-age law of four witnesses, no offender will ever be punished. The DNA test has proved its worth universally and is treated as the authentic proof in such cases. The tsunami baby claimed by nine couples was handed over to the legitimate parents after the DNA test. A similar case also occurred recently in Pakistan too. I am a witness to the case of a female relative whose son settled in New York sponsored her immigration to the USA. To encounter the frauds that take place the Americans have resorted to the DNA test. A DNA test of the mother was conducted at the US Embassy in Islamabad while her 45 years old son was tested in New York. The tests being positive the lady was granted immigration to USA.The rape being the most heinous crime, its perpetrators deserve the severest punishment. Our religion prescribes death penalty for it. As suggested in one of my earlier articles, if we want to curb the crime, the provision of compensation and compromise must be abolished. While we are too shy of hanging the criminals, let me point out that in USA where many states have no death penalty, 59 criminals were executed last year.If the authorities still consider it too much. Let us accept a suggestion by Justice (Retd) Nasira Iqbal. Addressing a seminar organised by the Aurat Foundation she suggested that the rapists be castigated, as a punishment to eliminate this crime from the Pakistan society. The learned judge recommended, ‘Castration as punishment should be introduced since men greatly value their manhood’. Lot of trash goes on in the National Assembly every day. Why cannot we legislate on the above points of vital importance and get the ruling
