Day: January 10, 2011

A GIRL child, either victim or alleged offender, is amongst the most vulnerable members of society who come into conflict with the law and are easy prey for abuse and injustice.

A girl child suspected of a crime or breaking the law is met with an improper investigation and interrogation procedure by the police in Pakistan. Pakistani laws, however, are lenient towards girl child offenders. The Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) 2000 also provides extra protection and care to girl children due to their fragile and vulnerable position in society.

However, the police have been observed to not be complying with the JJSO provisions as girl children are exposed to physical torture, sexual abuse and inhuman treatment at police stations.

According to NGO Sahil’s figures, from 2002 to 2009, 286 children were abused by policemen in Pakistan, which means an average of 35 children is abused by policemen in a year. It is unknown how many amongst them were girls. There are also many unreported cases of violence and injustice against girl children at the police-station level.

In Sept 2010, the painful story of a 14-year-old girl was revealed. She was arrested along with her brother for killing their uncle. She was illegally detained at Wah Cantonment police station for 21 days. According to her, during the detention the policemen raped her.

Then she was produced before a magistrate who sent her to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where she spent several weeks. It took very long for the girl to summon the courage to disclose the heinous crime committed against her by the police. Also, she discovered in jail that she was pregnant.

On her request the sessions judge Rawalpindi ordered for a criminal case to be lodged against the accused police officers. However, the police refused to register
the FIR against their fellow policemen. They even secured a stay order from the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench.

Whether or not she had committed a crime, she was to be treated as a juvenile and under no circumstances was she to be kept at a police station. All provincial rules framed under the JJSO strictly prohibit keeping a girl child at a police station.

Instead of getting help from the police, the girl was victimised and raped by policemen. This case is an example of when policemen fail to take action against their own colleagues. The case not only portrays the victimisation of a girl child at the hands of the police while in custody, it also indicates how commonplace
such treatment is.

The violations committed by police officials against girl children greatly reflect major weaknesses within the police system. A major problem is that police officials are not given proper attention by the provincial governments.

Therefore, there are no monitoring mechanisms in place to check violations of the rights of children, especially girls.

Police personnel are mainly taught and trained to deal with hardened criminals and to serve VIPs. They are not sensitised and trained to deal with the accused and witnesses in light of human and child rights standards.

Therefore, there are always cases of highhandedness and extreme violations by police officials.

Another area which is greatly overlooked is the investigation of cases of alleged girl offenders and monitoring of the investigation methods being used by police officers. The findings of the investigation play a central role in the judicial process.

But there is evidence in many cases that the investigation of the cases of children does not contain a single step that could ensure the rights of girl children to a fair trial. If girl children are not considered innocent until proven guilty, it means the right to a fair trial is impossible.

Interventions under the juvenile justice system at the police level can reduce the chances of a juvenile offender going to the detention centre for petty or bailable offences. Such behaviour of children can be remedied appropriately in an informal setting within the community through support, guidance and monitoring by the community and probation officers. At this level the probation department can play a central role.

However, Section 10(b) of the JJSO places the responsibility on the police to inform the probation officer concerned at the time of arrest of a child. If a juvenile commits a petty offence and is referred to an informal but humane system, it may reduce the burden of the courts and resolve the problem of overcrowding in detention facilities. Unfortunately, the probation system in Pakistan has not been given due attention.

The police treat children – irrespective of the gender or type of offence – no differently than adults. The needs of the female child victims are also not addressed. The major reason lies with the system that does not impart knowledge to the police regarding professional and humane dealing with vulnerable segments of the population such as children.

Also, the problem lies within our socially inbuilt tendency of exploiting and abusing the weaker and marginalised sections of society such as girl children. There is a lack of recourse to justice available through the police, which means that the state primarily acts as an unfair rather than a protective force.

Children, either as victims or offenders, have to be treated in a special manner as the JJSO and international obligations demand. Since the police do not follow the rules and procedures set for the treatment of children who come into contact with the law, there are lifelong impacts on the children’s moral and psychological well-being that haunt them well into their adult lives.

The writer is national manager, juvenile justice, at the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child.

Source: Dawn

Date:1/10/2011

By Shamsul Islam

FAISALABAD: A 12-year-old girl was given in marriage to an 85-year-old man in Chiniot on Friday.

According to eyewitnesses, tehsil Bhowana Adlana Japay resident Faiz sold his daughter Rani to his rival for five acres of land.

Eyewitnesses told police that Faiz had allegedly killed his cousin, the groom, Ahmed’s sister Anwar Bibi 8 years ago and a panchayat decided that he would give his daughter to settle the blood debt.

(Read: Film, discussion seek to raise awareness)

After being released from jail last week Faiz wed Rani to his rival Ahmed, who said that he had also paid for the girl by giving land. Residents informed police chowki in- charge Mangwana Zafar Baant about the case but he initially said that it was not in his jurisdiction to arrest people accused of wani.

Faiz was arrested by the police and was booked under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) eight years ago and remained in jail during the trial of the case. However, with the intervention of elders of the area, a deal was struck between the relatives of deceased Anwar Bibi and Faiz’s family.

Anwar Bibi’s family said they would pardon Faiz in the presence of the relatives of both parties and elders of the area during if he gave the hand of his 12-year-old daughter Rani Bibi to Ahmad.

“Ahmed said that Faiz had taken his wife from him and therefore ‘owed him a wife’.

Then he agreed to take his daughter,” eyewitness Raheem Shah said.

Ahmad is 82-years-old and is a wealthy landlord owning more than 20 acres of land. “He was married thrice. His first wife died young and the second got a divorce. The third, Anwar Bibi, was murdered by Faiz,” Shah told reporters. “The deal also stipulated that 5 acres of land be given to Faiz for handing over his daughter and the property has been transferred,” he added.

The nikah of Ahmad and Rani Bibi was solemnised 3 months ago but the marriage ceremony as held on Friday and was attended by over 100 people.

When contacted, Langrana Station House Officer (SHO) Zafar Bhatti said that he had conducted a raid but found that no laws were broken. “I cannot arrest anyone here because the girl is an adult as per Islamic Law and Shariah. She is 12-years-old and that is not too young for marriage,” he said.

“I have submitted a report with the court in this regard and it is up the court to prosecute,” he added. “The marriage needs a wali and her father is her guardian. It was his choice to give her in marriage,” he said.

Age is not just a number

As per CRA section 2,.(a) “child” means a person who, if a male, is under eighteen years of age, and if a female, is under sixteen years of age;

(b) “Child marriage” means a marriage to which either of the contracting parties is a child;

(c) “Contracting party” to a marriage means either of the parties whose marriage is or is about to be thereby solemnized;

(d) “Minor” means person of either sex who is under eighteen years of age.

In this case girl was according to the parents is 12 years old, however the area SHO stated that she was an adult according to Shariah law.

According to Section 5 of the CRA, the punishment for solemnising a child marriage is as follows

“Whoever performs, conducts or directs any child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both, unless he proves that he had reason to believe that the marriage was not a child marriage.”

Similarly, Section 6 says that the “punishment for parent or guardian concerned in a child marriage.

(1) Where a minor contracts a child marriage any person having charge of the minor, whether as parent or guardian or in any other capacity, lawful or unlawful, who does any act to promote the marriage or permits it to be solemnized, or negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnized, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both:

Provided that no woman shall be punished with imprisonment.

Source: The Express Tribune

Date:10/1/2011

By A.B. Arisar

UMERKOT: Three influential men allegedly sexually assaulted two women and beat another women causing miscarriage in a relief camp after sending their husbands and other men some 10km away to fetch relief goods.

The incident reportedly took place in Khet Singh Thakur village near Chhore on Thursday night. The women Bhayo by caste reached the Mirpurkhas Press Club on Friday along with their husbands and talked to reporters.

They alleged that landlords Ahmed, Mandhal and Jamal entered their relief camp and subjected them to rape. “Before committing the heinous crime, the landlords had duped our men into going to a place some 10km away to fetch relief goods.”

Other women in the camp tried to stop them from but they were ruthlessly beaten up. As a result a pregnant woman fell and lost her consciousness and suffered miscarriage.

They said they had gone to Chhore police station but the personnel who were there refused to register an FIR.

The women are said to have moved to Mirpurkhas because of insecurity in the camp.

Human rights activist Kanji Rano Mal Bheel told this correspondent that thousands of people displaced after rains were living in the open sky without any protection.

He demanded that the people in authority should take notice of such incident that women of scheduled caste were rejected to get an FIR registered against the landlords.

Source: Dawn

Date:10/1/2011

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan police department has set up women police stations in all the seven districts to deal with women specific cases, senior police officials said.

“We have set up seven women police stations in all the seven districts which will cater to requirements of women,” said Deputy Inspector General of Police Wazir Mohammad Ali Khan while talking to this correspondent on Friday.

He said initially such police stations would be under the direct command of the district superintendents of police. He said women personnel had been deputed to these police stations.

Meanwhile, the political, social, and rights organisations hailed the step, saying that this would create a sense of respect and security among the women.

They pointed out that thousands of cases went unreported due to male dominant police stations but now the women would feel comfortable to lodge cases.

Source: Dawn

Date:10/1/2011