PTI concerned over rising rape incidents in Pakistan

LAHORE

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Punjab Organiser Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has said the PML-N central and Punjab governments have failed to control "Rape and Kidnapping cases" and claimed that Pakistan is ranked among 10 worst countries when it came to rape cases .

Issuing a “Fact Sheet” about the incidents, Sarwar, also a former Governor Punjab, stated that 14,850 kidnapping cases were reported against women, children and girls during the last one year in Punjab. He said some 2,000 women were kidnapped and 80 percent of them were allegedly raped. 

In the fact sheet, Chaudhry Sarwar also said some 15 percent of those kidnapped were killed. He said kidnappers also kidnapped newborns from hospitals.

He said the Punjab government had failed to protect the lives and property of the masses and added that incidents of kidnap and rape of women and children were continuously rising during the PML-N rule in Punjab. In the fact sheet on Monday, Chaudhry Sarwar said kidnap and rape of women cases were dangerously increasing in the country and added that media reports revealed that 14,850 cases of kidnap of women and children were reported during 2015 in Punjab including 980 minors. The fact sheet said some 96 kidnap for ransom cases were registered. 

The report said newborns were also kidnapped from hospitals. The report said 25 minors were kidnapped for ransom among 96 cases. In Lahore, the fact sheet said 15 cases of kidnap for ransom were reported and victims’ families were forced to pay the ransom for victims' recovery. It said many of those kidnapped were also killed.

On the other hand, the fact sheet stated that  police’s performance remained unimpressive as it failed to solve hundreds of cases and many of the kidnapped persons never recovered. It said some 3,100 cases were still under investigation. 

Chaudhry Sarwar said police were only registering missing reports instead of kidnapping to save its skin. The fact sheet also stated that cases of molestation against children were also increasing, while the police and other institutions were unable to check such incidents.

He demanded that the government should make legislation to check such cases and give exemplary punishment to the criminals.