Child protection

Almost everyone I know was happy to find out that Zainab’s rapist, Imran Ali, was executed. The incident that happened in January sparked protests across the country and started a much-needed public debate on the matter of child sex abuse. While Zainab’s killer is punished, it is disappointing to see that no steps have been taken by the higher authorities to eradicate the menace of child sex abuse from the country. We have to create an environment that doesn’t give birth to Imrans. Merely punishing a culprit will not put an end to such crimes. This, by no means, implies that whatever happened on Wednesday morning, when the culprit was hanged, is inconsequential. It was good to see that the murderer was punished for his sin. The culprit was also responsible for murdering at least twelve other girls.

However, it is important that we should now pay more attention to the issue of child sex abuse which often remains unreported. We need to draft laws and policies to keep our children protected.

Hajra Zaidi ( Karachi )