Fathers of rape victims highlight police apathy in sexual assault cases

LAHORE: Fathers of the child rape victims-Zainab and Marwah- on Wednesday highlighted lack of seriousness of police while dealing with the sexual assault incidents besides also demanding strict punishment for perpetrators in such cases, ARY NEWS reported.

Speaking during ARY NEWS programme, 11th Hour, the father of Zainab said that their family had also faced delay from police in searching the missing girl child as they did not give due importance to the case initially. “The neighbours found her own their own,” he said.

He said that in old days, neighbours used to know each other, however, the situation has changed nowadays as people even do not know about their immediate neighbour.

Speaking during the programme, father of five-year-old Marwah- who was raped and murdered in Karachi, demanded public hanging of the accused at the main roundabout in the city.

Highlighting the non-serious attitude of the police, he said that it took three hours for them to register a missing case of Marwah. “The police even did not approach us on the first day,” he said.

The father further said that two people Nawaz and Faiz have been arrested in the case, however, they have demanded of the police to satisfy the family regarding their involvement in the heinous act.

“Both of them used to live in our neighbourhood, however, we did have any sort of relationship with them,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government decided on Monday that it will bring to parliament a bill to penalize sex offenders; rapists with castration.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved of the legislation, to castrate rapists once proven guilty, and the government bodies will now introduce it to the parliament soon, the sources have confirmed.