PA condemns Kasur child rape and murder, demands action from Punjab govt

The Sindh Assembly has passed a unanimous resolution condemning the horrific rape and murder of a minor girl in Kasur district and demanded that Punjab government and law-enforcement agencies put in extraordinary effort to catch the culprits and bring them to task.

Two resolutions were moved by both the treasury and opposition lawmakers and clubbed together on Thursday expressing sympathy with the aggrieved family and calling for the adoption of stringent measures nationwide to prevent sexual abuse and assault of children in the future.

“This House vehemently condemns the heinous incident that occurred in Kasur in which a seven-year-old [sic] girl Zainab was raped and murdered. This house resolves and recommends the Government of Sindh to approach the Punjab Government to prosecute the culprits and to take every possible step for a speedy trial so that no such incident takes place in future,” states the resolution moved by Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Khairunnisa Mughal and co-signed by several treasury lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the resolution moved by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman states, “This House strongly condemns the recent murder and rape of eight-year-old [sic] Zainab in Kasur. In addition, this House expresses its condolences and sympathies to the family of Zainab and shares in their grief. The heinous crimes committed against Zainab is a lesson for our society that all of us must do better to protect the children of this country from these predators. This House demands that all law enforcement agencies make serious effort to apprehend the perpetrators and bring him to justice.”

Taking the floor, lawmakers vented their anger at the incident and some of them demanded that such criminals should be publicly hanged to make them an example out of them for all of society. They also said that laws should be passed to adopt a strict regime to prevent such incidents of physical abuse against children from happening again.

Adviser to the CM on Social Welfare Shamim Mumtaz said incidents of abuse, excesses, torture, persecution and blackmailing of women and girls had been on the rise. She claimed that the Sindh government had adopted laws to duly protect the rights of children and to secure them from such incidents.

She added that although, as a matter of principle, the PPP has been against capital punishment, in such cases criminals responsible should be publicly executed without any hesitation. The provincial adviser further said that religious scholars and clerics in their sermons and speeches should spread awareness on such subjects among citizens.

Nusrat Seher Abbasi of opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Functional said that the state should answer why perpetrators of such heinous crimes were roaming around freely in society. She said people have been left with no option but to restrict the movement of their daughters and keep them inside their homes to protect them.

PTI lawmaker Dr Seema Zia said Zainab’s murder shows that the governments had completely failed to protect the lives, honour and dignity of people. She condemned the Punjab police officials for opening fire on those protesting against the horrific rape and murder in Kasur.