Even in 2021 the status of women in Pakistan is still in the
dark. Crimes against women are on the rise more than ever. The number of cases
of female killings i.e. femicide has flooded all platforms of social and
mainstream media, however little action has been taken in reality. A few cases
that were highlighted in the last few days includes Noor Muqaddam’s killing,
Qurat ul Ain Baloch and Bushra who were all brutally killed at the hands of men.
Noor Muqaddam, the daughter of the former ambassador of South Korea, was
beheaded at the hands of Zahir Jaffer as per claims of cheating in their
relationship. The 27-year-old was first shot and then beheaded by a man who has
a history of assault and rape cases and was previously deported from UK due to
similar reasons. He belongs to an affluent family in Pakistan and had
pre-planned the murder and was ready to flee to US soon after. He was known to
have mental illnesses and was seeking therapy from the renowned “Therapy Works”
who had also hired him as a therapist.
Another case reported earlier the same month was Qurat ul Ain Baloch who was a
mother of 4 children. She was not only tortured in an inhumane way but was also
later murdered by her husband. Her family pleaded for justice with pieces of
evidence while neighbors attested of the torture Qurat ul Ain had to face.
Bushra was similarly murdered by her drug-addict husband, Ali Raza who opened
fire on Bushra and her children. The children, Saima and Danyal were severely
injured while Bushra could not survive. The children are broken and petrified.
It has been reported that Ali Raza has temperament and drug issues and a record
of violent behavior while being a police constable. Bushra and the children had
separated from him and lived in a separate house where he broke in one day and
killed Bushra while brutally injuring her child.
A woman in Rawalpindi was raped and assaulted while her 14-month-old kid was
viciously assaulted and died on the spot in front of her eyes. She was
critically injured and in a total state of shock when found and was taken to the
hospital. However, she could not survive the trauma and the injuries and passed
away a day later.
There is a very clear pattern in all these cases. Women being the victim shows
how misogyny is embedded in our system and women are largely oppressed and are
now struggling to even survive. Very recently our well-esteemed politicians
rejected the domestic violence bill which blatantly enabled more people to
commit crimes against women. This sheer step of rejecting the bill very much
ascertains the status of women in our society.
Every woman is scared and upset in our so-called democracy where everyone has
the right to live. The situation has worsened from random cat-calling to
harassments to acid attacks and rapes to now killing women like sheep.
The men of our society should also come out, raise voice for their fellow human
beings and do the least minimum to make females around them feel safe and
protected. This is the least human decency one can portray instead of feeling
attacked and becoming bashful.
By doing so you are sparking a problem which leads to internalized misogyny and
furthers the crimes against women. It is high time that you should raise your
manly voices for the women around you because you never know, it could be your
sister or mother next who becomes a hashtag.
The government has taken critical steps in reference to the spread of corona.
There is a strict compliance to SOPs and complete lockdowns. People are being
fined and punished if rules are not followed. Now the question arises, is the
government so effective with the femicide pandemic? We need a change of policy;
we need a change of system where women are safe and have liberty. The domestic
violence bill should be immediately reinstated and severe actions should be
taken against perpetrator of these heinous crimes.
Pakistan ranks as the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women and if
crimes against women continue to happen at this rate, we will soon be ranking on
the top of the list. This is a grave situation which should be immediately
addressed by our government and certain laws should be introduced pertaining to
women rights and people should be publicly punished in order to create a lesson
so that every person thinks twice before touching a woman.Accountability is the
only solution for a safe and equal society.
In conclusion, our system needs an immediate reform to reinstate the status of
the women in our society and to create the mindset that women are equals and
have freedom to live in our country.