10 women subjected to physical abuse daily

KARACHI – In the first eight months of the current year, as many as 2,367 women were reportedly tortured, physically abused, or killed. Of these, 940 were cases of murder, 259 of torture, 271 of bodily mutilation, 19 cases of stripping, 69 cases of physical drubbing, and 99 cases of harassment in public places.

According to the data collected by an NGO, Madadgar, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid, said that 10 women were being subjected to physical abuse in the country daily.

Interestingly, Balochistan, the most underdeveloped province, especially as regards education, reported the least number of women abused. It was however, said that though the cases of violence against women might be high but were not reported to the press due to one reason or another.

However, most of the cases of women’s abuse were reported in the Punjab at 1518, 565 cases in Sindh, 225 cases in NWFP and 59 cases of women’s abuse in Balochistan.

Reports indicate that 240 cases of women’s abuse were reported in January, 250 in February, 228 in March, 213 in April, 287 in May, 413 in June, 351 in July, and 385 cases of women’s abuse were reported in the month of August.

Of the 2,367 there were those women who fell victim to violence at the hands of family members and other unknown people. A good 1519 were reported to be married, 257 were unmarried, 33 were divorced and 68 were widows while the marital status of 165 female victims could not be determined.

The reports showed that in all married women were mostly the victims of violence.

The data pointed out that in 462 cases, husbands were culprits. In 250 cases, the in-laws were involved, 218 of the women were victims of abuse by jilted lovers or paramours, in 42 cases sons, and in 175 cases, unknown people committed the crime. In 16 cases, the feudals and landlords were the perpetrators of the crimes against women.

Source: The News

Date:9/26/2004