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Anishkaa Worthington writes about the recent "motorway incident" in Pakistan. The sexually violent attack of a young mother has sparked an uproar of protests, with many calling for justice and stricter laws. Activists have condemned the reaction of Lahore’s head of police, after he blamed the victim for travelling alone, rather than decrying rape. While PM Imran Khan has promised swifter action against rapists, many question how effective this will be. This article contains content some readers may find distressing.
On the night of 9th September 2020, a woman was driving home with her three children, when her car ran out of petrol on the motorway in the outskirts of Lahore. That section of the motorway was not monitored by the highway or Punjab police, and there were no rest stops or service stations nearby. She made numerous calls for assistance to the police but was told the section she and her children were stranded on did not come under their jurisdiction. While the young mother was waiting for her husband to pick them up, she was apprehended by two armed men. They smashed the car windows, and dragged her out of the car to the surrounding fields, where she was gang raped at gunpoint. Then, they stole her jewellery and cash, and ran away. Many news reports have revealed that the children witnessed the horrific attack of their mother.
Outrage about the case increased when the chief of the Lahore police department, Umar Sheikh, stated that the victim was responsible for the crime committed against her. He blamed the woman for travelling at night without a “male guardian”, and driving on a remote section of the motorway. He also added that the woman, a resident of France, had mistakenly assumed that “Pakistani society is just as safe” for women and girls as it is in France.
As of 11th September 2020, thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in several cities in Pakistan to demand for the criminalization and prosecution of acts of sexual violence and to condemn the police chief’s controversial remarks about the attack.
Khadija Siddiqui, an activist and lawyer, who survived an attack in 2016 when she was stabbed 23 times by an ex- boyfriend, has demanded for the resignation of the police chief for failing to protect the citizens of Pakistan. She also explained to Al Jazeera that instead of ‘victim-blaming’, women and girl who are believed to be responsible for the harm that befell them, those in power should not be “complicit”.
This attitude of ‘victim-blaming’ is reinforced by the more conservative areas of the nation abiding by a “patriarchal code of honour”. This often encourages the oppression of women by restricting them of certain freedoms, such as working outside of the house, and choosing their own husband.
Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari, has addressed the police chief’s offensive comments on Twitter as “unacceptable”; adding that “nothing can ever rationalise the crime of rape”. However, the minister has also come under fire for her lack of action in challenging patriarchal laws and “anti- women” state policies during her time in office.
This horrific attack on the young mother took place just days after the torched body of a five- year old girl was discovered in a garbage heap in Karachi. The post- mortem revealed that the young child, Marwah, had been sexually assaulted and died from head injuries before her body was burnt. The tragic incident was widely discussed on social media as users used #JusticeforMarwah to demand the protection of minors from child abuse, and strict punishment for the perpetrator(s).
Although rape is a criminal offence in Pakistan and is punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment, there is an obvious indifference in registering cases of sexual abuse and prosecuting rapists. Despite recent modern changes in laws and policies to confront violence against women and girls in Pakistan, activists and humans rights lawyers argue that the authorities are often hesitant to take action towards investigating reports of such cases. Officials have previously been accused of intimidating victims from going forward with their allegations by invading their privacy. Hence, in an effort to protect their “reputation”, many women are encouraged to stay silent rather than seek justice.
In response to the vast demonstrations and calls for justice across the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan has proposed to introduce chemical castrations to punish those convicted of rape and child sexual abuse. In an interview with a Lahore-based news channel, the prime minister said:
“The way murders are graded as first degree, second degree and third degree, rape should also be graded this way, and the first-grade rapists should be castrated and incapable completely.”
When administered on men, chemical castration reduces sexual libido by blocking testosterone production via anaphrodisiac drugs. It has been approved as a legal punishment for paedophiles and rapists in Indonesia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Alabama (USA), and is discreetly practiced in many countries. Chemical castration was even believed to be a remedy for homosexuality, as pioneering mathematician, Alan Turing, underwent physical hormonal changes as a part of his probation after he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ for having a homosexual relationship in Britain in 1952.
Although the majority of the public have welcomed the call for stricter punishments for sexual offences, experts are not convinced that these punishments for paedophiles and rapists will lead to fewer victims of sexual violence.
Scandinavian academic research on volunteer prisoners, who were convicted of committing sexual offences, demonstrated a dramatic drop in reoffending rates. However, legal experts argue that chemical castration will not be an effective deterrent, as perpetrators may instead murder their victims to ensure that their crimes are never discovered. Instead, women rights’ activists are advocating for a fair legal system that can guarantee prosecutions and justice for cases of sexual abuse.
The police have announced that, after conducting numerous raids in neighbouring towns, one of the suspects have been arrested. The Lahore Police have also announced that the young woman will give a recorded statement on camera and has agreed to identify the suspect in custody. Meanwhile, Umar Sheikh, the chief of the Lahore police, faced public condemnation in front of the Senate of Pakistan’s Human Rights committee for his insensitive comments about the victim’s circumstances. He has since issued a public apology for basing his comments on his own personal opinion and assumptions instead of assuring the nation that such heinous crimes would no longer be tolerated.
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