Trigger Warning: Sexual Abuse, Rape, Child Molestation
There really doesn’t seem to be much progress, or hope, for Pakistan with regards to safety of women or children. In the holy month of Ramazan, the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl, Farishta Mohmand, has shocked the country. The body of the little girl was found dumped in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad. She is alleged to have been missing for 5 days before being found in the capital.
10-year-old Farishta’s rape and murder has shocked many people, who are taking to social media to express their fear and disgust
People are demanding justice for the bereaved family
People are so concerned that as soon as news of the little girl broke, she’s become a top trend on Pakistani social media
On top of this, police and medical personnel are said to have refused to cooperate by not registering an FIR, and refusing to undertake a post mortem
Her father was found crying outside the hospital where her medical tests were supposed to be done, due to lack of support from the institutions for investigation into his daughter’s murder
People are disgusted by the incident and horrified for the safety of children in Pakistan
Images of her brutally mutilated body have been circulated on social media adding more fuel to the fire.
After hours of the police refusing to cooperate, Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari was contacted to step in and finally the case began moving forward
This case has come to light just over a year after a similar incident with 7-year-old Zainab
There was a lot of hue and cry back then, government institutions had vowed to make things safer, there was legislation enacted in the name of Zainab to help protect children of Pakistan from sexual abuse but sadly, in practice, nothing much has changed. Farishta’s case has become a national story only because it is so gruesome but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of children in Pakistan who are sexually abused on a daily basis who don’t end up murdered therefore no one finds about them.
We, as a society, really need to re-evaluate our morals and priorities. Is our morality only for show or do we really care about human rights, dignity and safety of the women and children of this country like one is supposed to?
This is a developing story.
