Karachi: The brutal rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Pakistan’s Punjab province has acted as a catalyst for change as the country has seen a spike in the reporting of molestation cases involving teenagers after the high profile incident sparked national outrage.
Zainab had gone missing while going for tuition near her house in Kasur city, some 50 kilometres from Lahore, on January 5.
Her body was found in a garbage heap on January 9.
There has been a noticeable increase in reporting of such cases from all over Pakistan and prompt police action after the horrific incident which shook the country.
The media have also started highlighting and reporting such incidents with a more serious approach.
A teenager was arrested on Saturday for raping and killing his own seven-year-old brother whose body was found three days back from the bushes at a national coaching centre in Karachi, police said.
Earlier, a man was arrested in Quetta for trying to rape and kill his younger sister at their home where she was alone.
In another case, police have arrested a man from the impoverished Manzoor Colony area of Karachi for allegedly raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter.
Freiha Altaf and Maheem Khan, women belonging to entertainment and fashion industry, have gone public with their childhood experiences of being sexually molested.
Rights and children activist Farheen Haroon who works for a foundation that fights child abuse said it was good that the country had “woken up” to “this major problem”.
She said there was a need to revise laws to hand out quick and serious punishments to stop such incidents.
Human Rights activist and lawyer Sarham Burney said because of social taboos and shame many such cases of child abuse were not reported in lower income and elite classes.
“But I see this horrific tragedy that occurred with this innocent girl Zainab being a catalyst for change in our society as far reporting of child abuse and molestation is concerned,” he said.
Zia Awan another lawyer and activist who fights for deprived and oppressed women said there was a need to educate and change the mindset of the police while dealing with these cases.
“The police don’t tend to take these incidents like they should and because they are already understaffed and overworked there is normally inaction on such cases,” Awan said.
Violent protests gripped the Kasur city following Zainab’s rape and murder that claimed two lives. The Zainab incident also stirred a national outcry demanding justice for her.
Last year, 4,139 incidents of child abuse took place in the Punjab province where 43 per cent of them were acquainted with perpetrators.
