A National Shame: When is Pakistan Going to Say “Enough is Enough” to Child Rapes?

A rape case was reported in Ratta Amral Police Station in Rawalpindi. The father of a young 14-year-old girl went straight to the police after what can only be described as an event of abominable cruelty.

The 14-year-old girl had lost her birth mother, and her stepmother had left due to personal differences. Leaving the girl alone; The father had to go to work every day.

The vile and inhumane perpetrator, who was also their neighbor, found an opportunity to lend ‘a helping hand’ to the little girl, offering help if she needs it. Once he regained her trust, he entered the house and raped her.

But why did she not speak up? I’ll tell you why. The culprit threatened her that her father will be murdered if she said anything. So the girl did not speak up, in hopes of keeping her father out of danger.

Knowing that she will remain silent, this vile man brought another friend to join him in the act. One became two, and an elderly neighbor upon seeing them visiting the house frequently thought it to be inappropriate.

The elderly neighbor found the little girl in a vulnerable position. Did he report the crimes? No. He did the same thing to the girl and further invited his friend to join in.

A heinous crime gets discovered too late

Recently, the 14-year-old girl had been complaining about her health, and a hospital visit became compulsory. Which is where the father of this girl found out that she is 6 months pregnant.

He immediately reported the crimes to Rawalpindi police, who then caught the culprits. Putting them behind bars.

https://twitter.com/_serialchilller/status/1229769428587425792

While two of the men caught are college-going students, the other two are fathers of college-going kids.

Just read that Rawalpindi 14 year old rape and pregnancy story. Man im fucking not raising my daughter in this fucked up country

— Noor Inam (@noorinam1) February 18, 2020

It goes without saying that these monsters are not just sexually frustrated but also completely uneducated when it comes to sex ed. Schools don’t want to touch these topics and parents think it’s a sin to talk to your kids about topics that are necessary for them to understand the difference between good touch and bad touch.

If that was not enough, the culprits are more often than not close relatives, family friends or neighbors.

Do you know that 80% of rape cases are perpetrated by the victim's relatives or someone really close to them.

— MrsKT🇬🇧🇿🇼 (@Maixanderj) April 12, 2018

Thanks for all the advice on avoiding rape gais. I'll try my best to not be in public or indoors, not trust strangers, close friends boyfriends or relatives, be a human cctv for myself, let everyone know where I am, not look at my phone, speak up, stay lowkey, pay for self-defe

— Liy 🦣 @[email protected] (@liy) November 15, 2017

I would like to know which of these "holy commandments for women in an extremely patriarchal and violently misogynistic society", the one and a half year old Delhi gangrape victim battling for her life in ICU, broke.

— Mr.M (@mohitmahendra72) November 16, 2017

We can’t and we won’t forget

We will not forget the Zainabs of this country; among the five hundred and forty-five other cases reported in 2019 alone. We will not stop standing up for victims too scared to speak up and we will not appropriate victim-blaming until and unless these animals are caged.

Someone has to pay for these heinous crimes.

 

 

 

 

Another 14-year-old raped, and it’s about time the nation wakes up. Bashing the country is NOT the solution, we need to form a consensus, and EDUCATE children. Why are we not furious about making sure this sort of thing never happens again?

The Zainab Alert Bill is a step in the right direction, but society needs to do more to ensure this sort of inhumanity never raises its ugly head again.