Voice of Gender News From Pakistan
PINGRIO: One Waqar Jatoi of village Dost Muhammad Jatoi falling in the limits of Khoski police station of district Badin, shot dead his niece Mayfal Jatoi and a 19-year boy Ali Gul Buledi suspecting illicit relations between them on Saturday evening.
Later the accused surrendered at Khoski police station along with gun and the bodies of a girl and boy.
It is said the killer chased the deceased boy for a kilometre before shooting him dead.
Source: Business Recorder
Sidrah Roghay
Karachi: Alishba, aged six, went missing from her house in Dastageer on December 10. The family registered an FIR but investigations did not begin. Four days later, the girl’s tortured and raped body was discovered in some bushes off University Road.
A day after Alishba’s case was reported by the media, another case of a 12-year-old boy surfaced. The boy had been sodomised and his body dumped.
Newspapers were full of accounts of angry family members of Alishba, who alleged that the investigations were delayed even after the FIR had been registered.
According to Muhammad Ali, president of Roshni Helpline, an NGO which works specifically on cases of missing children, a missing child “is a non-cognizable offence”.
For a non-cognizable offence, the police cannot arrest an accused or begin investigations without the consent of a magistrate.
“If a parent goes to the police with a complaint of a missing child, it will be noted down in the Roznamcha or a daily diary, where other lost items like NICs are put in. A simple announcement is made over the wireless and that is the end of it.”
According to the data collected by the organisation from 100 police stations of the city in 2010, more than 3,000 cases of missing children were reported in Roznamchas.
Most children return, “but those who do not are probably being used for criminal activities and therefore prompt investigation is needed”, Ali says.
He maintains that the first three to 72 hours are crucial to finding important clues. “The child’s mobility needs to be curtailed. If the police went into the neighbourhood as soon as the missing child was reported important clues could have been gathered, and crime would have been prevented,” he says as he specifically talks about Alishba’s case.
“Why wait for something to happen and then begin investigation?” he says.
Zameer Ahmed Abbasi, SHO, Darakhshan Police Station, disagrees. “Parents can drop in any time, with a verbal or written complain and either a photo or a description of their child, and an FIR will be registered under Section 363 or 365, which deals with kidnapping cases.”
“A missing child is a cognizable offence; it should not be placed in a Roznamcha. Those who do it are wrong,” he maintains.
Shahida Jamil, a lawyer who is famous for her expertise in the field of human rights, believes that a lot depends on how the parents pursue their case, “Did they hint to the police that the child could have been kidnapped, or state the last known sight of the child?”
But Muhammad Ali believes that the police attitude is off-putting for parents. From his experience of dealing with parents of missing children, and recovering them, he says, “It takes time. You have to take the parents into confidence, assure them that you are here to help, then they open up and tell important details, personal feuds which may have resulted in the disappearance and so on. Simply telling them to leave after an entry in the Roznamcha is not right.”
Source: The News
PESHAWAR: A flood-affected widow having five minor children has appealed to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to provide her support through the Watan Card, as she could not be registered.
Talking to The News, Ayesha Bibi, a resident of Hospital Koroona in Dag Ismail Khan village of Nowshera district, said her house was damaged and all her belongings washed away in the July 28, 2010 floods.
She said she was not contacted when the government carried out the survey of losses suffered by the people.
The woman said her late husband Wajid Ali was killed by unknown dacoits on June 5, 2011 while returning home from a brick kiln in the Azakhel area of the district.
She said she had been looking after her five minor children after losing her husband. The distressed woman said her only source of income was her stitching machine and the meagre amount generated through tailoring was hardly enough for her to feed her orphaned children.
She appealed to Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti and Minister for Social Welfare and Woman Development Sitara Ayaz to provide her the Watan Card on the basis of her vulnerability as she had suffered losses during the floods.
Source: The News
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, Imran Khan, who had a good day in Karachi on Sunday, says that under his rule no law will be made against Quran and Sunnah. He also hints that the likes of Veena Malik, the actress who remained centre of controversy for a nude photo shoot for an international magazine, would not be allowed to do so in Imran’s Pakistan.
While replying to questions asked by The News regarding his Islamic view and vision of Islamic socialism, Imran Khan said that under his rule ‘no law can be made against the Quran and Sunnah.’
Analysts however say both these views of Imran Khan are not contradictory as women can be allowed to wear whatever they like in their private lives but where public morality issues are involved a more Islamic and stricter code of ethics can be followed. This is done in many open and free western countries as well.
When asked on a television channel about his views about dress code for women, Imran replied that ‘clearly Veena Malik types cannot do so in Pakistan.’
It is worth mentioning here that Imran, in a television channel, had said that Pakistan will not be a country which would put a bar on dress code for women and women who will be free to wear anything.
Tongues are wagging as to how Imran will take the liberal and secular elite along with religious minded people, as both are his supporters. There are many Pakistanis who wish to see the ethical principles of Islam play a more active role in public life.
In his book “Pakistan: A Personal History,” Imran Khan referred to Allama Iqbal as the ideological father of the nation, and added that “Iqbal’s teachings have inspired me to a great extent.” In the book, Imran calls Islam a “comprehensive blueprint for how Muslims should live in accordance with the highest ideals and best practices of Islam.”
Imran Khan wrote: “If we follow Iqbal’s teachings, we can reverse the growing gap between Westernized rich and traditional poor that helps fuel fundamentalism.”
Source: The News
Tahir Siddiqui
KARACHI: Two teenage girls were injured on Sunday when a young man threw acid on them in Surjani Town.
Zarin, 19, and Irum, 18, were taken to the burns ward of the Civil Hospital where medico-legal sources said both had suffered 24 per cent burns.
Family sources said the attacker, identified as Kamran by Zarin, allegedly threw acid on the girls as Ms Irum opened the door of her house for her friend and her maternal grandfather.
The victim’s grandfather, a resident of nearby Yousuf Goth, told Dawn that the two girls were friends and their families were former neighbours.
He said Kamran approached them as they got off a rickshaw.
“I entered the door first and the two girls were following me when he threw acid on them.”
Senior Medico-Legal Officer Dr Aftab Channar said Ms Zarin’s face and forehead had also been affected by the attack.
Source: Dawn