Blood on our hands

The blood of yet another young woman has been spilled. Once again we have stood by and watched helplessly as her life was taken away like scores of other similar victims in the country. Mehvish Arshad, 18, a bus attendant was shot dead by a security guard employed by the same company for which she worked in Faisalabad. Mehvish, the sole breadwinner for her family, was brutally murdered because she had repeatedly rejected proposals for marriage made by the guard. CCTV footage from June 9 captures how Mehvish was trapped in a stairwell as she left the bus, threatened and then shot at point blank range. It is reported she had faced harassment before from the same guard, who is now on four-day judicial remand. We have no way of saying what degree of torment Mehvish faced as she performed a difficult duty in a line of work where women are frequently subjected to harassment. But like so many other women she had no choice but to carry on with her work and sustain her family.

The victim’s maternal grandfather has said there is now no hope for the family on that he sees only limited chances of obtaining justice. Crimes such as this leave us all with blood on our hands. There must have been persons who saw the harassment Mehvish faced. Perhaps she had complained, perhaps the guard had seen no need to disguise whatever remarks he made in a society that refuses to respect women who must work in a public sphere. Only by giving greater attention to such events can change be achieved. The caretaker CM of the Punjab has sought an inquiry. But we have heard such statements numerous times. Stronger action is required from the media, the government, the private owners of the bus company and the public to save others from a similar fate. This can happen only by reversing the existing values of society and granting women a role as equal citizens within it. They are still denied this role. The change has to arrive from several places and joined together as a wave before other women are gunned down or murdered through other means over trivial matters.