An appalling case of rape and murder of a young woman is currently doing the rounds on social media, as the details of the crime unfold one is left aghast by the vileness of the act of the perpetrators who were suppose to heal her.

22 year old Asmat Khanrejo had gone to her doctor for a toothache. A few hours later, a call was made to her parents, informing them of her critical condition. According to news reports Ms. Khanrejo, a young woman from Karachi, Sindh province, went to seek medical treatment from the Sindh Government Hospital in Korangi for a severe toothache. A little later on, Khanrejo’s parents received a phone call from someone at the hospital, stating that Asmat was in critical condition and that she had to be picked up immediately. Asmat was later on taken to Jinnah Hospital where she was declared dead

The medico legal report revealed that Asmat was drugged and raped during her visit to the hospital. At least four medical officials, including a doctor, at a government hospital were said to have been involved in the alleged rape and murder

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has taken notice of the incident and ordered police to take immediate action against the culprits

The incident is beyond horrific and no amount of words can never be enough to condemn the abhorrent act.   The diabolism in the action of doctors who take an oath to protect all human- is incomprehensible; the tacit inaction of the staff of the hospital manifests the underlying institutionalization of rape culture in the country.

 

Sadly cases like these are not rare in the country. The situation is quiet abysmal for women of the country according to a study carried out  by Human Rights Watch, there is a rape once every two hours and a gang rape every eight.

 

Pakistan is among those countries where 70% women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime by their intimate partners and 93% women experience some form of sexual violence in public places in their lifetime

 Sindh- the province where Asmat was raped- is worst in terms of violence against women per person with 61 crimes per million people. About 18 women of Pakistan face heinous crimes every day in four provinces of the country as they are murdered, raped, or killed in the name of honor, fresh official data 

A recent survey carried out by Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) has mentioned Pakistan  as sixth most dangerous country for women. the foundation listed 10 most dangerous countries after incorporating these six key areas to rank countries that are least safe for females these included Healthcare, Discrimination, Cultural traditions, Sexual violence, Non-sexual violence, Human trafficking.

Pakistan was ranked 7th in sexual violence aspect that includes rape as a weapon of war; domestic rape; rape by a stranger; the lack of access to justice in rape cases; sexual harassment and coercion into sex as a form of corruption.

Though the Punjab government has taken several initiatives to improve women rights in Pakistan like Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act 2016, Violence against Women Centers (VAWC) and Punjab Women Protection Authority, Women-On-Wheels Campaign; all these initiative while laudable, have failed to address the lynchpin of the issue- discrimination against women.

While prejudice against women is deeply entrenched in all strata and across ethnicities in the country, women of Pakistan continue to suffer from violence despite making inroads in all professional fields. Harassment is the most benign form of violence against women and almost every women in Pakistan has suffered from it, Rape is the extreme form of harassment and violence against women (VAW), yet despite having a plethora of laws justice is not forthcoming for the victims.

Weak prosecution and lack of timely and detailed investigation is partly to be blamed for the laws to be toothless in curbing VAW. The conviction rate in such cases is dismal. In most of the cases after an outcry over mainstream and social media the public and state interest fizzles out much to the chagrin of the victim who is left high and dry and without security to deal with the influential culprit. The state feel satiated after ordering an enquiry into the case, the enquiry reports are generally made in a haste and do not identify the culprit clear enough for conviction to happen.

The tattered moral fabric of the society in general has been damaged beyond repair, each day cases of rape are reported and the brutality in each case makes the last one appear benign in comparison. Asmat and many other girls like her will be lost in the anvils of the country vile history. Women who make up half of the society’s inhabitant are relentlessly denied their right to life and honor, the state of moral abyss is unfathomable where an innocent victim is targeted merely on the basis of her gender. Her only crime is to be born a girl in the country that prejudice against its women for demanding equal rights.

While the societal rage boils over when a women is seen marching on the street s stating that she will not heat food for her man or that she will not be subdued, the deafening silence of the same society in cases of rape and murder of Asmat. The hypocrisy from a morally bankrupt society hardly comes as a surprise.

The IHRC is appalled by the belligerence of the perpetrator and urge immediate action against the culprit, we demand that an enquiry be initiated into the matter and perpetrators be brought to justice. We stand with Asmat’s family in their demand for impartial and expeditious justice; because of absence of rule of law weak criminal justice system and witness protection such incidents will increase in brutality and number.