Sharp increase in rape cases across Punjab in September

LAHORE:The Punjab Police have witnessed a sharp increase in rape incidents across the province during the month of September.

Two women were gang-raped in Lahore in September one in her Raiwind house and another on the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway. On September 21, a woman was sexually assaulted in her Raiwind house and a female patient was raped by a doctor in Gujranwala. A woman was raped in Muzaffargarh and another was raped by robbers in Depalpur. The IGP Punjab has taken notice of all the incidents. The accused involved in the Raiwind gang-rape incident, which took place before the Lahore motorway tragedy in September, have been arrested by the police a week ago. Rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight in Punjab since the Lahore motorway gang rape that led to huge protests and demands to change the country's rape laws. The key rapist in this case, Abid Ali, is still at large. Abid’s arrest seems to take time as he has either stopped using his cell phone or has been given shelter by someone to produce him before the police at the appropriate time.

The month of September has produced frequent tragic incidents throughout Punjab, which have shaken the people to the core. Among these numerous crimes, the most barbarous ones were rape incidents which statistically have made it to the top of the crime list this month. The Lahore motorway gang-rape was an incident so savage that it forced people to feel dubious about the safety of their dignity as well, in addition to the uncertainties already frightening their minds regarding their lives and valuables. People, ordinary as well as influential, came out of their houses to direct the attention of the Punjab Police towards the safety of citizens, especially women.

The Lahore motorway gang-rape incident and the protest rallies in condemnation of it initially suggested that the police officials of the Punjab province would be more cautious than ever about the security of their people. But, it seems like this incident has paved the way for the immoral and impious devils of the society to commit their wicked acts. More rape incidents have made their way to newspaper headlines. Despite the fact that police officials are equipped with the latest electronic gadgets and forensic facilities, it has been observed that today the citizens are paying the price of police negligence, more than ever before. It has been two weeks since the gang rape incident and the police have been unable to catch the key culprit, Abid. Initially, a handful of police teams and cops of a few districts were looking for the wrongdoer, but now all 36 districts’ police officials have been ordered to search for him; hence drawing a picture of Abid in equivalence with the Indian movie “Don”, for whom the cops of 11 countries turned the world upside down.

Despite many promises and claims by the Punjab Police, the crime rate has only been experiencing unending thrust with every passing day; especially the rape incidents. At a time when the city is being reigned over by chaos and lawlessness, the officials of the Punjab Police seem to be eating corruption with their daily bread, and drinking lies with their daily water.