Voice of Gender News From Pakistan
ATTOCK – A seminar on the role of women in politics, peace and elections was held in Attock. District Election Commissioner Attock Noor ul Khitab was the chief guest. People including women from different walks of life attended the seminar. Peace Builder Faizan Mudassar while addressing the participants said that women have an important role in politics and in elections and must be encouraged to play their role affectively. Later, a walk was also held.
Source: The Nation
MIRPPURKHAS – A social welfare organisation CSSP inaugurated a women business center here on Sunday.
According to a press release, SSP Mirpurkhas Captain (Retd) Asad Ali Chaudhry, Noor Bajeer, Shaukar Rahmoon, Kashif Bajeer, Mumtaz Jarwar, Satram Das and other social representatives of women organizations attended the opening ceremony. Addressing the ceremony CSSP representative Noor Bajeer said that the main objective of establishing a women business center was to create business opportunities for women. He said that due to unavailability of employment opportunities for women at rural level in the first phase about 300 skilled women have been included in the programme.
SSP Mirpurkhas Captain (Retd) Asad Ali Chaudhry in his speech said that the business women center was a best source of income for women and District Police would provide protection to women working in the business center.
Tinent to mention that a Non-Government organization (NGO) CSSP has established a particular market to provide trade access to the women desirous to make themselves self-sufficient in relevant fields.
Source: The Nation
ISLAMABAD: As many as 17 Pakistani female university students successfully completed the four-week United States Pakistan Women’s Council (USPWC) Future of Women in Energy Scholar’s pilot programme.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director Reed Aeschliman presided over a graduation ceremony for the participants at the US Embassy in Islamabad.
According to a statement released on Sunday, the inaugural four-week programme was designed to encourage women to consider careers in the energy sector. All of the participants were female Pakistani students pursuing their undergraduate degrees in the sciences.
The programme is a product of the US’s commitment towards promoting women’s educational and economic participation in Pakistan’s energy sector, it added.
Scholars developed projects related to energy economy
“As we celebrate 75 years of relations with Pakistan this year, today’s milestone shows the scope of this amazing partnership. This programme supports women’s empowerment, education, and job opportunities. It shows the depth and breadth of our mutual commitment and the opportunities for further cooperation,” Mr Reed said.
The programme, a cooperative effort between USPWC, US Mission Pakistan, the US Department of State, the US Department of Energy, USAID, Texas A&M University, and Texas A&M University (Qatar), kicked off with a two-week study programme at Texas A&M University’s campus in Qatar on June 3. Scholars learned about energy infrastructure, energy security, and the role of women in the energy sector, and developed independent projects on different facets of the energy economy.
The students returned to Pakistan for a two-week career immersion programme in Islamabad and Lahore, visiting public and private sector companies and agencies involved in Pakistan’s energy sector.
They developed a practical understanding of the multifaceted challenges faced by Pakistan’s energy sector.
Many Pakistani and international companies, and public-sector employers contributed in the programme. The US-Pakistan Women’s Council is a public-private partnership that seeks to increase women’s economic participation in Pakistan by catalysing commitments from the private sector, civil society, and government leaders in both countries to advance women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan.
Source: Dawn
KARACHI: A session’s court on Saturday dismissed an application of seeking removal of the ‘second’ investigating officer in the Dua Zehra abduction case.
Additional District and Sessions Judge (East) Muhammad Mehboob Awan pronounced his verdict after hearing arguments from the parties.
The judge noted that the matter had travelled through different legal forums, including the Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court, which had passed different directives and orders and observations.
“To sum up there was no doubt in my mind to say that the learned Judicial Magistrate has not yet passed an order on ‘C’ class report filed by the investigating officer, which even otherwise will provide a room of appeal to the applicant, if the order in future is found adverse by him,” the judge observed.
The court said that the opinion of a medical board, which purportedly had initiated its proceedings, to determine the age of the girl was awaited.
“The prayer of the applicant for change of the Investigation/IO at this stage is not found justified for the reasons that the discord regarding the age of alleged abductee is pending with the Medical Board and the IO has no conceivable interference with the record/opinion of the Medical Board rendered in due course of time. Thus, the instant application is bereft of merits at this stage and is accordingly dismissed,” the judge ruled.
Syed Ali Mehdi Kazmi, the father of the girl, had moved the court, stating that despite Dua was produced before a medical board and knowing that her age was yet to be determined, the IO, Shaukat Ali Shahani, had filed final charge sheet insisting that “no case of kidnapping was made out”.
He alleged in the application that the IO was not investigating the matter properly and impartially. He approached police high-ups but they did not entertain his plea.
The court was pleaded to order the police high-ups to change the IO and entrust the case to some efficient police officer.
Last week, a judicial magistrate had ordered further investigation into the matter of Dua’s kidnapping and also directed the provincial health secretary to constitute a medical board to decide in a week her father’s plea for carrying out a fresh ossification test to determine her age.
Earlier, police had recommended cancellation of an FIR lodged by parents of Dua Zehra arguing that the claims about her kidnapping and being underage could not be proved after she denied the allegations before courts and an ossification test declared her age between 16 and 17 years.
The IO had argued that the provisions of the Section 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 14 years) of the Pakistan Penal Code as well as Sections 3/4 of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013 were not applicable in the case since her purported marriage took place in Punjab.
The magistrate had already released 11 relatives of the groom against personal bonds, while the IO also recommended to discharge cleric Hafiz Mustafa and witness Ali Asghar from the case, saying they were found innocent in investigation.
Source: Dawn
OKARA: A police officer of the Saddar Police Station was arrested on charge of raping a woman who was a complainant in a kidnap case and was moving from pillar to post for recovery of her daughter.
As per first information report (FIR), the woman’s daughter was kidnapped about 20 days back and she registered a case with Saddar police against four suspects.
For the recovery of her daughter, the complainant repeatedly visited the suspect who was the investigating officer and a sub-inspector at the police station. The suspect, on the pretext of raids, took the complainant with him and raped her twice. He also received a bribe from the victim for investigation into the case also.
Later, the complainant approached the court that issued orders for her medical examination for registration of a case.
The victim appeared before DPO Muhammad Hasan Iqbal along with court order to get her medical test done and registration of an FIR against the suspect.
The DPO directed the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) for preliminary inquiry. After the inquiry, the Saddar station house officer registered a rape case against the suspect and arrested him. The suspect would be produced in the court of a judicial magistrate for remand on Monday (today).
RAPE BID: A private academy owner in Dipalpur was booked on charge of a rape bid on her students’ mother who visited the academy office to get roll number slips of her children.
As per the FIR, the woman along with her son went to the academy in the City Dipalpur police area where her three children were studying. She asked the owner/principal for the roll number slips of her children. The principal asked her son to get photocopies of some papers from the market. In the meantime, he started touching the body of the victim and attempted to overpower her. When she resisted, he beat her up and issued her threats. He tore her burqa also.
Meanwhile, the academy students reached there on hearing the noise. Police were also called. The woman got a medicolegal certificate from Dipalpur Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and the City Dipalpur police arrested the suspect. A case on charge of attempted rape was also registered against the suspect.
Source: Dawn