Pakistan’s secret shame exposed by tragic story of eight-year-old Zainab
▶ Victims and their parents are often scared to come forward for fear of being blamed for the abuse, writes Zia Ur Rehman
On January 12, a school watchman in Ibrahim Haidri, an impoverished fishing neighbourhood of Karachi, had a narrow escape when dozens of angry people ransacked the building and tried to burn him alive.
He had been accused of molesting a schoolgirl and was saved by a contingent of police who arrived to arrest him but also dispersed the lynch mob.
The incident occurred on the third day of grief and anger in Pakistan over the abduction, rape and murder of Zainab Ansari, 8, in the Kasur district of Punjab province.
The tragedy sparked countrywide protests and a debate on the taboo subject of child sexual abuse and its prevalence.
Zainab disappeared in Kasur on January 4 while returning to her aunt’s house from a Quranic studies class. Her body was found five days later on a rubbish heap. A post-mortem examination revealed she had been raped before being strangled to death.
Kasur has a history of paedophile scandals. In August 2015, police arrested seven gang members who had preyed on scores of children for years, forcing them into making sex videos and then blackmailing their families by threatening to sell the recordings.
Statistics compiled by Sahil, a child protection organisation, show 129 cases of assault on children, including abduction, rape and attempted rape, were recorded last year. In 2016, the number was 141.
Zainab’s murder sparked outrage across the country but in Kasur it turned violent, with mobs trying to attack the homes of government officials.
At least two people were killed and several injured there on January 10 in clashes between residents and police.
Police have yet to apprehend anyone, but they have released a composite image of a man they are seeking.
Malik Ahmed Khan, spokesman for the provincial government, said the suspect had been identified through security camera footage with help of the state forensic experts.
Mr Khan said that police were carrying out raids in different parts of the province in search of the culprit.
Statistics compiled by children’s rights advocates paint a distressing picture of child abuse in Pakistan. In first six months of last year, 1,764 cases of child abuse were reported nationwide, and 4,139 child abuse cases were recorded in all of 2016, Sahil says.
Sixty-two per cent were reported in Punjab, the largest and most populous province in Pakistan, followed by Sindh province with 27 per cent.
But activists believe the real number is much higher because of a reluctance to report, or even acknowledge, abuse because of social taboos and the attitude of police.
In February last year, “Hussein” made a complaint at a police station in Rawalpindi against a teacher after one of his daughters told him the man had touched her private parts.
“But because of police’s insensitivity and the lengthy, expensive judiciary process, I took back my case,” he said.
Rana Habib, head of the Initiator Human Development Foundation, a Karachi child rights group, said children were sexually abused by relatives at home, by people in the street and at school, but most cases were not reported.
“Victims and even their parents are afraid to come forward for fear of being blamed for the abuse, and it is very common in conservative societies of Pakistan and other South Asian Countries,” Mr Habib said.
Activists also stress the importance of sex education in the school curriculum to make children aware of abuse and how to deal with it.
However, they have to balance their demands with using careful terminology, such as “self-protection knowledge” instead of sexual abuse to avoid offending religious and cultural taboos.
Shahzad Roy, a well-known singer and activist who took part in a protest held in solidarity with Zainab’s parents, said the state has a duty to create awareness by including basic education about consent in curriculums.
“It can help the children in identifying, preventing and responding to incidents of sexual abuses,” Roy said
In a session of the national assembly on Friday, members from the government and the opposition demanded texts on sexual harassment be made part of the curriculum in schools and seminaries.
But Aniq Ahmed Tabish, a student leader of Jammat-e-Islami, one of the country’s influential Islamist parties, called Roy’s proposal an attack on Pakistan’s ideological base.
“In taking advantage of the Kasur tragedy, some forces have again become active to change the syllabus. But Pakistan’s religious forces will resist such attempts,” Mr Tabish said.
In the past, religious parties have succeeded in preventing such efforts. In 2011, Dr Mobin Akthar, a Karachi psychiatrist, caused a furore with his book, Sex Education for Muslims, which aimed to educate Pakistanis about sexual matters.
Dr Akthar received threats after religious parties accused him of spreading pornography, and some bookshops refused to sell his work.
Because of the police’s insensitivity and the lengthy, expensive judiciary process, I took back my case HUSSEIN Father of abused schoolgirl