Day: August 31, 2012

Crimes against women increased 7 per cent this year as 57 districts reported 982 cases in May 2012 compared to 922 in the same month last year. However, over the last two years, an increase of 31 per cent was reported in such crimes with 746 FIRs lodged in May 2010, says a Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) report released on Thursday.

The report said it could not be ascertained if this increase was due to occurrence of more crimes or enhanced reportage in certain parts of the country, or both. The report is based on data collected from District Police Offices (DPOs) in May 2010, 2011 and 2012 on FIRs registered for six categories of crimes against women in 57 districts.

The crime categories include honour killing, forced marriage, offences relating to marriage, rape, attack on modesty and insult of modesty through word, gesture or act. Twenty one of the monitored districts were in Punjab, 16 in Sindh, 15 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), four in Balochistan and one in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

Punjab reported a 17 per cent increase in FIRs for anti-women crimes between May 2011 and May 2012. KP had an increase of 15 per cent but Sindh registered a 35 per cent decline. In Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), where nine cases were filed for crimes against women in 2011, the number of FIRs increased to 24 this year. Balochistan had three cases reported in May 2012 as compared to two recorded last year. Among the monitored crimes, cases of honour killings and offences relating to marriage and the number of reporting districts increased.

In 2012, 31 cases of honour killings were reported in 15 districts as compared to 24 in 11 districts last year. Faisalabad with five cases was the highest reporting district in May this year. Similarly, as the number of reporting districts increased from nine to 11, FIRs filed for offences relating to marriage also went up – 131 this year compared to 112 in May 2011.

Although the districts reporting cases of attack on modesty this year remained the same (29), the number of FIRs filed increased by 36 per cent. Except for Punjab, all other regions registered a decline in the number of reported cases. Lahore was the highest reporting district in 2011 and 2012 – the number of cases there increasing from 32 to 92.

The cases of word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman increased from seven to 10 while the number of reporting districts remained the same – two each in 2011 and 2012.

The number of districts reporting rape decreased in 2012 as compared to the preceding year. It was still the most widespread crime. As many as 186 rape cases were reported in 31 districts this year as compared to 163 in 32 districts in 2011. Lahore had the highest of 40 cases in 2012 while Faisalabad (28) was the top reporting district in 2011.

On the other hand, the cases and number of districts reporting forced marriages came down over the year. Despite a decrease from previous year, the number of cases filed for forced marriages was the highest among all the reported anti-women crimes. As many as 341 cases were reported in 27 districts in May this year. Among regions, cases of forced marriages decreased in Punjab and Sindh. However, a significant increase of 66 per cent was registered in ICT where 24 cases were reported in May 2012 as compared to last year’s nine. KP and Balochistan also observed an increase. Statistics show that Lahore (134) recorded the highest numbers of anti-women offences in 2012, followed by Faisalabad (110) and Multan (105).

Business Recorder

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Governor, Barrister Masood Kausar has directed to further strengthen and streamline the Women Skill Development Programme in Fata with special focus on value addition, quality and making the products attractive from demand and marketing point of views.

Presiding over a presentation on working and achievements of the programme at Governor’s House, Peshawar on Thursday, the governor further desired that not only the best instructors having impressive training background from reputed educational institutions of the country should be hired in future but the existing trainers should also be provided with opportunities to refresh and update their knowledge as well.

The Chief Executive of the Fata Development Authority, Sahib Shah and the Project Director of the programme briefed the Governor about working, achievements and future goals of the programme while the senior authorities of the Fata Secretariat were also present.

The governor, noting with satisfaction that 42 Women Skill Development Centres are fully functional in the entire Fata and establishment of more than 30 centres of similar nature is in progress on fast track basis to further expand the network, also desired to ensure efficient monitoring of working of the centres.

Referring to the importance of introduction of promotion of non-traditional trades, especially the marble mosaic, designing, fruits and vegetable processing and preservation, bee keeping, kitchen gardening, water conservation, bee keeping, besides hand knitting, embroidery, sewing etc, the governor also took keen interest in display of the products and desired that extra efforts were needed to make the products attractive from marketing point of views.

Conceding to a proposal to develop one of the centres as a model institution in each tribal agency, the governor said this is the best way to promote cottage industry in the area and there must be continuity in the pace of progress through gradual development and expansion of the skill development centres in the entire Fata. Indeed, he remarked, the programme is highly useful to make the womenfolk more effective contributors to socio-economic well being of their respective families.

Meanwhile, the governor was also briefed that a display centre exists in Peshawar and efforts are also under way to establish similar centres including one at Islamabad to ensure proper marketing and projection of the products of Fata Women Skill Development programme.

The Nation

VEHARI: A young girl escaping forced marriage with an old man here in the city fled home a day prior to the marriage and took recourse to the court, said media reports on Thursday. District and Sessions Judge Vihari Syed Hamid Hussain Shah remanded the matter of recording the girl’s statement to the court of a civil judge and handed her over to Darul Aman (Shelter Home).

The case will be heard on September 12. The girl alleged that his father wanted to sell her off to an old man, adding he had also threatened to throw acid on her if she declined to get married.

The Nation

CHICHA WATNI: A woman and her four daughters were killed in a Chicha Watni village on Wednesday night allegedly by one of her sons.

The suspect, Khalid Allah Ditta, 26, has been arrested by Ghaziabad police who say that he has confessed to killing the women. The police said the suspect, a resident of Chak29-11 LK, was arrested by a police team from a neighbouring village on Thursday evening. They said a murder case against him was lodged on the complaint filed by his father, Allah Ditta.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Station House Officer Muhammad Wajid admitted that it was likely that the complainant would withdraw the complaint and refuse to press murder charges against his son. He said the police would be helpless in such a situation and would have to release the suspect without prosecution.

The SHO said the complaint could not be registered by the police on their own (to prevent a withdrawal at a later stage) because a relative’s application was available for the purpose. “We may proceed against the complainant (Allah Dita) on spreading false information charge if he revokes the complaint,” he said.

The complainant, Allah Ditta, who is the suspect’s father, stated that Khalid Allah Ditta had suspected his mother Irshad Bibi, 50, and four sisters Nazia Bibi, Shazia Bibi, Sajida Bibi and Khalida Bibi of having illicit relations with some men in the neighbourhood.

It said the suspect had drugged their dinner and killed them in their sleep with an azada (a digging tool). Two of the four sisters were married but were staying at their parents’ house for some months. Talking to The Tribune, Khalid Allah Ditta’s younger brother said he and his other brothers had been warning the deceased ‘to mend their ways but they refused to listen to their admonitions’. He said he had learnt about the killings on reaching home in the morning on Thursday from his dera where he had spent the night.

The post mortem examination carried out at Chicha Watni tehsil headquarters (THQ) hospital stated that the women were killed with some sharp-edged weapon. Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammad Akram said chemical samples had also been sent for laboratory examination to ascertain whether or not the women were poisoned before the assault.

Talking to the media at the crime scene on Thursday morning, Sahiwal District Police Officer Rana Ayaz Saleem said he would personally monitor progress in the investigation of the case.

The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD: A court on Thursday adjourned a bail hearing for a Christian girl accused of blasphemy, prompting human rights activists to make fresh calls for her release in a case that has drawn renewed criticism of the country’s anti-blasphemy laws.

Religious and secular groups worldwide have protested over the arrest this month of Rimsha Masih, accused by Muslim neighbours of burning a booklet carrying verses from the holy Quran.

“This will go on and on and this little minor girl will rot in jail,” said human rights activist Tahira Abdullah outside an Islamabad court. “We want her out of jail. We want her under protection.” Under the blasphemy law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) commits a crime and faces the death penalty, but activists say vague terminology has led to its misuse.

Convictions are common, although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy. There have been conflicting reports about Rimsha’s age and her mental state. Some media have said she is 11 and suffers from Down’s syndrome. A hospital said in a report she was about 14 but had the mental capacities of someone below that age and was uneducated.

Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer representing the accuser in the case, said the medical report was conducted without a court order, prompting the bail hearing to be postponed until September 1. “She could get 110 percent punishment,” he said. Rimsha’s arrest triggered an exodus of several hundred Christians from her poor village on the edge of Islamabad after mosques reported over their loudspeakers what the girl was alleged to have done.

Christians, who make up four percent of Pakistan’s population of 180 million, have been especially concerned about the blasphemy law, saying it offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and are often linked to vendettas, they complain. “We are just praying for her and we hope that she will be released soon,” said Christian activist Xavier William. In January 2011, Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by his own bodyguard because the governor had called for the reform of the anti-blasphemy law.

He made a prison visit to Aasia Bibi – a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in a case stemming from a village dispute – and had worked for the reform of the law.

Lawyers who once protested in support of democracy showered the assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, with rose petals. Two months after Taseer’s murder, minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, was murdered by the Taliban for demanding changes to the blasphemy law. Lawyer Raheem said he did not want to see Rimsha’s case turned into another one focusing on changing the law, and he warned that to do so could again incite a violent reaction. “There are many Mumtaz Qadris in this country and we will support them,” the lawyer said, referring to Taseer’s killer. Reuters

Daily Times