Hundreds of people took to the streets of Pakistan’s eastern city of Kasur to protest the brutal murder of Zainab after the seven-year-old girl was abducted, raped and her body recovered from trash.
The heartbreaking news has inflamed outrage in the Pakistani society with condemnation from all levels of leadership and people are reacting furiously on the social media, demanding #justice4zainab.
Zainab had gone missing last week but Police apparently did not do much to recover the child. On Wednesday her body was found dumped in a trash pile.
According to some TV channel reports, forensic examination of the body has confirmed that the girl was raped before being killed.
Two people have been killed during the clashes with police as local people stormed the office of deputy commissioner. It’s not clear who ordered the police fire on protesters.
Protesters took to streets,forcing closure of markets and setting many vehicles on fire.
This innocent face represents the hundreds of thousands of children who die a violent death, because the state fails to provide them security.#JusticeForZainab cannot be served until the criminals are punished for this grotesque crime.
My heart bleeds over this pic.twitter.com/aYDXEPDnmA
— Dr. Yasmin Rashid (@Dr_YasminRashid) January 10, 2018
Kasur, a town just outside Lahore, the seat of power and influence of former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and provincial capital, ruled by his brother and likely political successor, Shahbaz Sharif, gained infamy a few years ago with a scandal involving sexual abuse of children.
Now, with the outburst of anger and recrimination the local police and the provincial government are facing condemnation for their inaction over such crimes against humanity.
But the Pakistani society also has much to answer for allowing predators to roam the streets freely, and for compromising morality by simply overlooking the severity of problems facing it – abuse of women and children and violence against the defenseless.
The sudden outburst of public anger and condemnations are not going to be enough. Both the society and the state have to change their ways to enforce governance and ensure justice for all victims of sexual abuse and violence.
