Research and Publication Centre of Madadgar (Link) has collected and published figures of selected categories of crimes that are reflective of brutalities women and children put up with, yield to its perpetration and stoically endure its consequences.
The traumatic effect of such shocking incidents, in many cases, leave the victims betrayed and abandoned and emotionally torn apart into two conflicting personalities abiding in one physical self. This phenomenon leads to repentance that wavers and flickers throughout the life of a victim and haunts him/her anamnesis lest there be another attack on his/her privacy, property and honour at any time in the future.
There is also a sense of shame and disgrace that an act of criminal attack leaves on the psyche of its victim. These completely shattered victims continue to remember their helplessness and inability to defend themselves against criminals. These are so shattered and frightened souls that they do not protest against the wrongdoers who harm them and at the same time take care that others do not volunteer to take up the issue on their behalf with the appropriate agencies.
For them staging protests and putting up resistance against crimes usually complicate the problem and, therefore, finding out a suitable solution becomes difficult. On the contrary such actions generally create a chain of successive horrifying crimes difficult to control. The fear to report a crime and pursue it till its logical conclusion is not ill founded. Generally follow up of a complaint in such cases where the criminals are organized and the civil society is helpless, divided and fearful of the boomerang effect of such a follow up, remains inconclusive. On the contrary this makes life miserable for the victim and his family.
However, crimes such as thievery, dacoity, robbery, trespassing where physical harm to a person is not intended and the crime is motivated by monetary considerations, seems to be having an explanation. Reporting of these crimes is often without any outcome. Such reports are without instigating an offender to strike back and commit the same crime on a much bigger scale. These reporters are usually safe in these circumstances.
But in some areas of Pakistan, heinous crimes based upon the dictates of social customs, ethnicity and strong tribal bonds, are recognized as normal acts of responsible behaviour. It is a sign of respectability for some people.
There are other groups for whom it is an act of revenge and bravery. In some areas the crimes committed against the lower cast by an upper cast member of the society, are justified in one set of tribal laws, while in another, the same is intolerable. Revenge killings and honour killings are, however, quiet common in most of the regions of Pakistan. Even educated and enlightened tribal people living abroad do endorse honour killings and revenge murders. These are equally liked and equally condemned criminal acts.
The law of the land suggests punishments in these cases whereas the people, who practise it, profusely garland the killer for his act of protecting his honour and the honour of his family and the tribe. Killers of women, or an avenger, if caught and punished, come out of jails as heroes. They are symbol of moral courage and support for the next generation.
The tribal custom, wherever it is, calls upon the women to tell stories of murder of their husbands or sons to their children and prepare them to take revenge from the killers. There are tribes who are engaged, for generations, in revenge killing of men and women of other tribes. It is an unending chain of crime that continues to lengthen itself without any sign of its coming to an end.
The areas that together constitute the entire geographical boundary of Pakistan, are already divided into four provinces which are distinct in culture, language and customs to govern the day to day life of people living in that set-up. These geographically divided areas have their own interpretation of justice and believe in the system of dispensation of justice that their customs have developed over a period of time.
The tribal areas have their own system of justice and their own interpretation of a crime. An act of killing a man is a crime in common law but the tribal traditions will look at it in more than one ways. It may be an honour killing, a revenge killing or an act of establishing supremacy. Similarly, killing of women by their husbands, sons and fathers have different interpretation depending upon the customs of a society. Whether it is the protection of property or honour, the killing of women goes on with complete impunity in tribal or in clan life for settlements of disputes.
Kidnapping in Pakistan takes place with different purposes. Kidnapping for ransom is very little in quantum as compared to kidnapping for induction of a child or a grown up women in a gang of beggars, den of sex service providers or as bonded labour. The magnitude of the crime is gigantic. Where the abused children and women go, remains a mystery but the statistics show that crime graph against them is on the incline.
From January to June 2003, more than 1,026 cases of child abuse were reported in national as well as in provincial newspapers. Out of the reported 1,026 cases of child abuse, there were 545 cases of sexual abuse and 57 cases of both sexual and physical abuse. Further categorization of data shows that out of 1,026 cases of violence, there were 353 cases of murder against children, both boys and girls, 129 of severe injury, 209 of rape of minor girls and 179 of sodomy against minor boys. In all 39 children were murdered after sexual abuse.
The Madadgar research team said that male child was more vulnerable than female child as out of 1,026 cases of abuse 543 were committed against minor boys and 483 against minor girls. Most of the child abuse cases occurred in the Punjab - 623, in Sindh 323, in Balochistan 49 and in the NWFP 31.
Women abuse has assumed an alarming proportion in Pakistan. It remained uncontrolled during the first half of 2003 despite stringent measures law provides to check them.
During the period January-June 2003 there were 2,889 cases of women abuse. Out of this number there were 2,131 cases of physical abuse and 758 cases of sexual abuse that received press coverage. The print media has recorded 799 cases of women's murder, 701 cases of injury, 565 cases of rape, 199 cases of attempted rape, 289 cases of severe torture, 105 cases of beating and 42 cases of stripping women and forcing them parade in the streets.
Kidnapping of women and children has shown an increasing trend. During the last six months 1,341 women and children were kidnapped. In the Punjab 878 cases, 376 in sindh, 64 in the NWFP and 23 in Balochistan were registered. This shows how mercilessly women are being treated in most parts of Pakistan.
The Madadgar analysis showed that in 855 cases of kidnapping of children and women, the perpetrators were unknown to the victims, while in other incidents they were acquaintances. Only 27 persons could be recovered.
Honour killing or karo kari claimed the lives of 496 women, 163 men, five female children and four male children.
During the period under review in some high profile cases the kidnappers were either policemen or dacoits, husbands or waderas and feudal lords. The peers, faquirs moulvis, shopkeepers, pimps or traffickers did not lag behind and contributed their share of crime with no regards to law or answerability to the law of the land.
One hundred and fifty-two women died of burn injuries. According to figures published in newspapers the number of women died of burn injuries is 183. Most of the cases of death by burn injuries took place in Sindh 111 cases, Punjab 67 cases, Balochistan 4 and NWFP one.
Torture under detention is another crime that goes on unnoticed in all the four provinces. Police is usually held responsible for deaths due to torture in detention. In the print media 431 cases of such torture allegedly committed by police officials were reported. Out of these, 334 cases pertained to male detainees and 70 cases pertained to women. In 23 cases male children were tortured to death and in 4 cases female children were tortured and killed.
The largest number of these cases took place in the Punjab-268, Sindh 137, Balochistan 17 and the NWFP nine.
In all categories of cases Punjab has retained the highest number of crimes which are against such human beings who had a right to live honourably.
Write-ups on crime against women and children is a staple diet for a "hungry for news" journalist is one way how officials look at this problem and refuse to offer any comment for or against the law enforcement agencies.
In view of the inactivity and idleness of the government machinery towards crimes against women and children, the civil society has a responsibility towards its members. If nothing else, it should condemn and resist crimes and help those NGOs who are fighting a "winning battle" against the criminals and their supporters. Till such time the NGOs win, it would be better the protectors of law to review their performance and redefine their responsibilities towards the civil society.