Adil Najam
Sometimes you see a headline that just stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder. I saw such a headline in The Daily Times today: “At Least 100 Rapes in Karachi a Day.“
The story is reporting a statement by Dr. Zulfiqar Siyal, Additional Police Surgeon (APS), Karachi, where he claims that on average, 100 women are raped in Karachi every 24 hours. It takes a little careful reading to realize that he is not saying that this is the number of actual rapes per day, but that he thinks that it must at least be this much and possibly more. In fact, he himself points out that the number of reported rapes are much less, because of the social stigma of reporting such a crime.
I have no reason to is agree with the statement from the APS. Indeed, I have plenty of reason to believe that he is right and that the real number of rapes must be much more. But I did want to make sure that readers interpret the news report properly. Excerpts from the report.
On average, 100 women are raped every 24 hours in Karachi city alone, and a majority of them are working women, said Additional Police Surgeon (APS) Dr Zulfiqar Siyal. A majority of them are working class women or those working as domestic help and are mostly up to 20 years old, he said.
“I am saying with full authority that such a large number of rape cases happen in the city,†he told Daily Times on the sidelines of a discussion on sexual violence organised by the Aurat Foundation on Monday. “But very few rape survivors have the courage to come forward in search of justice.†They do not come forward because of the lengthy medical process and delayed justice system in Pakistan. Only 0.5 percent of cases are reported and the majority (99.5 percent) of survivors prefers to stay silent.
Part of the problem is that there are 11 medico-legal sections in three major public sector hospitals but there are only six women medico-legal officers (WMLOs) for the 18 million population of Karachi. “I am sure that there are more than 100 rape cases every day … but you can gauge how many are reported from the official data which says that during the last eight months (between January to August 2008) a total of 197 cases were reported,†Dr Siyal said. The WMLOs also face a lot of problems, he said. Karachi is also short on hospitals where rape survivors can go through the entire medical examination. “It isn’t just medical facilities but you won’t find a single women police officer (WPO) in any of the total 101 police stations of the city,†he said.
I think that even more important than the number he gives is the point he makes about the majority of rape victims in Karachi being working class women or those working as domestic help, 20 years old or younger. My own sense would be that the situation is not much different anywhere else in Pakistan, whether in terms of the numbers or in terms of who the victims are. I am very glad that the APS has spoken up. I wish more people would, including more victims. However, I can understand all the reasons why many victims do not. As in many societies, this crime persists because the social stigma is attached to the victim even more than the culprit. It is but one aspect of the deeper scars of violence against women.
As with so many other crimes against humanity, rape this a crime that thrives on silence. Not only the silence of the victim, but the silence of society. When, as in this case, the silence is broken, one feels empowered. One hopes that others will break the silence too.
Also see:
Silent Against Domestic Violence
Violence Against Women: Breaking Down Walls
Being Woman in Pakistan
Celebrating the Lives of Pakistani Women
Changing Rape Laws in Pakistan
Will we Muslims finally realise that the way to prosperity and security is to believe in Allah and His divine laws?? If a single rapist was to be publicly executed, and the women observed hijab, this problem would be cured overnight!
O Allah, make us see.
Note how Farooq Naik, Latif Khosa and Rehman Malik skipped the meeting and Raza Rabbani tried to stop its proceedings and lost his temper when warned that the PPP minister suspected of involvement in the case might try to impede the investigations.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=1355 04
Seven Baloch women were killed, buried, Senate body told
Saturday, September 13, 2008
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee hearing the gruesome details of the live burial of women in Balochistan was told on Friday that the number of such women
could be seven and not five or three as earlier reported.
But the Committee on Human Rights was ignored totally by the PPP government as none of the three important ministers, who are active members of the Senate
body, attended the meeting chaired by Senator SM Zafar.
The absence of these three powerful ministers was felt more, not only because of their current ministerial status but in their capacity as its members,
by the jam-packed Committee Room which heard shocking disclosure that the total number of the unfortunate women might be seven. Those who did not attend
the meeting were Farooq Naik, Latif Khosa and Rehman Malik.
The notice of the committee meeting was issued many days back, so everybody had ample time to ensure his or her presence in the meeting. Several senators
also asked IG Balochistan Asif Nawaz to give them detailed clarifications for making a threatening phone call to this correspondent (Rauf Klasra), in a
bid to stop him from pursuing the story of those women. They termed it a sort of “shooting the messenger” and wondered how could he expect from journalists
to share their sources of information with him.
However, Nawaz clarified that he only meant to get some information from The News correspondent which might have helped the investigations. These senators
also appreciated the efforts of The News correspondent to keep the issue alive.
Meanwhile, suspected involvement of one of the PPP ministers in the Balochistan government in the affair is said to have kept the three PPP ministers away
from the important proceedings. In the absence of Interior Adviser Rehman Malik, the meeting discussed how the police had badly failed to make any breakthrough
in these investigations and now attempts were being made to bury the issue after the arrest of some loyal servants of those powerful tribesmen.
Only Leader of the House Raza Rabbani, who in the past had been playing a major role in defending the rights of women, turned up in the meeting one hour
late. He spoke for five minutes and opposed the role of the Senate body on human rights to discuss the issue at a stage when investigations were underway.
Surprisingly, Rabbani lost his temper during the meeting when it was pointed out that the PPP minister in Balochistan government might hamper the investigations
and warned that the proceedings of the committee should remain unbiased and non-partisan.
Earlier, the furious committee members were totally dissatisfied with the version of the Balochistan Police and after three-hour-long proceedings were of
the view that a big cover-up was in the making to save some political guns of Balochistan, who had actually killed those girls to settle their own political
enmities.
After finding no proper replies to their questions, IG Balochistan Asif Nawaz was put on the mat by well-prepared senators, who used their own information
to reject the police findings and wondered how it could have failed to apprehend the real culprits, who were still at large and only some loyal servants
of the tribal chiefs were made scapegoats.
The meeting was attended by Senators Mushahid Hussain, Dr Mohammad Said, Prof Khursheed Ahmed, Yasmeen Shah, Jamal Laghari, Mohammad Ali Durrani, Haji Mohammad
Adeel, Abdur Rahim Mandookhel, Mohammad Talha Mahmood, Anisa Zab Tahirkheli, Maulana Samiul Haq, Haif Rashid, Raza Rabbani, Dr Khalid Ranjha, Abbad Komaili,
Sadia Abbasi, and Nasar Khan.
Secretary Interior Kamal Shah and top police cop Tariq Khosa were also present in the meeting. Two human rights activists Tahira Abdullah and Samar Minhallah
and this correspondent (Rauf Klasra) were also invited to attend the meeting as observers.
The senators were angry over the fact that the Balochistan Police had failed to even register the FIR against the culprits and now they were busy in the
cover-up. ANP Senator Haji Adeel said he was convinced that the number of murdered women might be seven not three or five as earlier reported and the new
version of the incident was being used to divert the attention from the burial of five women, who were said to be unmarried. He said he had no doubt in
his mind that a total of seven women might have been killed in the name of honour and graves of five women were missing.
Jamal Laghari said if those girls were declared Kari, then where were those boys or men with whom they were suspected of having illicit relationship. He
claimed that a big cover-up was in the making.
Rahim Mandokhel also wondered how could the girls be killed without identifying those with whom they were captured. He said this was also a bogus story,
as Baloch traditions did not protect such killings and no woman was killed unless the identity of male was established. But, this is not the case in the
killing of these women. He challenged the statement of the IG that a Jirga was held before killing those women.
Prof Khursheed Ahmed also agitated over the cover-up being to save powerful people and wondered how many more versions of this story would be given to the
parliamentarians. IG Balochistan Asif Nawaz tried to offer his own defence by saying that he was recently posted to Balochistan and he was working with
ill-trained police in the area, where this incident had occurred.
He also claimed that the investigations were still under process and he was giving the information to the authorities, which they were getting from the
accused under investigation. Asif Nawaz said now he had deputed good officers to investigate the case. He denied that there was any pressure on him to
let the real culprits off the hook. But he could not reply to the questions that why PPP Minister Sadiq Umrani was so far not questioned although he was
the first one to confirm these killings in his area. The IG claimed that all the people accused of attending the Jirga had gone underground and he was
trying to “lure” them.
But the senators refused to accept the IG’s version of the events and expressed their total dissatisfaction over the police investigations.Policeman Tariq
Khosa said unless the state would not become a party to the honour killing and courts would disallow any compromises, women
The figure of Hundred medico-legal procedures each day is not equal to hundred rapes.
Consider this:
In our society, quite often, a couple leaving home and getting married with their own will invoke a severe reaction, specially from the girl’s family. In order to recover the girl from the custody of the boy, usually police help is sought. In all such cases, where the father of the run-away girls go to police, an FIR under PPC 365B is filed, accusing the boy and any other accomplices, of rape(or forceful marriage). Some parents go a little further and declare their daughter to be already married and produce a fake “Nikah Nama”. This is done to avoid the situation when the girl appears and confesses her marriage to be a willful act. In this way she and her husband could still be prosecuted.
Now when the law is set in motion, a set of procedures must be followed, requiring a medico-legal by an appointed doctor, whenever the girl is recovered (or appears on her own). All such cases require a medical examination of the girl, no matter which ever side she decided to go.
A close examination of all such cases usually reveal honor and vendetta, not rape. But again as I have said that law is law, some procedures have to be followed. If the aggrieved party is saying that their daughter has been abducted and raped, then its abduction and rape. No policeman will say that it is not, although off the record they will tell you the true story.
My opinion offers the other side of the story. I am no male chauvinist. I strongly believe in the empowerment of women.I think that the ugliest crime that could be comitted agaist civilization is rape. But I have been through all this. I have seen such cases being registered every day in almost every police station of the city. I have seen hundreds of people booked on charges of rape and forceful marriage. The are booked on a charge that carries death penalty or life imprisonment, still I have not seen a single person going to the gallows. They usually prove their innocence or do an out-of-court settlement, and in some cases, as they say it “lived happily ever after” .
The Additional Police Surgeon quoted in the news item should have provided a little more data to sufficient his assumption of “hundred rapes a day”. What happened to the accused? Were they booked? Were they convicted and punished? In which area the rape reports are frequent ? What is the age of rapist? What is his socio economic background? In how many cases the victim and the rapist are related to each other? What is the average age of the rapist?. Did our surgeon plot the rape data on the city map to get a relationship between population distribution and crime? What was the educational qualification of the victim and the rapist? What are the usual/frequent crime scenes?
I think the information provided by him is incomplete and insufficient to draw a “hundred rape a day” conclusion.
Raza > No. You have no reason to believe that it is much less. Evidence shows otherwise. I agree with Adil Najam that the number is going to be much higher. Rape is far more common than people expect and it is even higher in developing nations such as Pakistan.
The real issue here is how many poor women, specially who work as domestic help, sweepresses, etc. get abused because they are poor. Too many rich kids I know got their first sex experience with a woman working in their house.
Yes, rape is always about power and I think the doctor here is right in his estimate.