After the recent demonstration held against the alleged rape and murder of a young nurse in Sialkot, society is yet again left in shock and disgust at the barbarity of criminals who roam – for now – free among us. According to the administration of the nursing school, the young nurse left her room of a private hostel on Saturday claiming that she was headed to her village in Pasrur to spend the weekly holiday with her loved ones. She was reported to be missing on Sunday. On Monday, her body was found from Bhed Pulli locality of Sialkot. Strangulated and mangled, the young woman’s body was returned to her family. The most unfortunate aspect of this news is that it is not the first time a woman’s life has been so brutally robbed of her, and from the general apathy surrounding these crimes, it will not be the last.
When it comes to the violence perpetuated against women in Pakistan, pathetic little accountability surfaces and the efficiency (or lack thereof) exhibited by law enforcing bodies is a shameful sight to behold: Cases of misogyny and cruelty are diligently filed away, to accumulate dust for months, even years of neglect in circulation in crushingly slow legal systems.
Vicious crimes against women in the form of intimate partner violence, courtship violence, domestic violence and abuse, battering, and rape are shamefully common in Pakistan. It is a bitter reality that Pakistani women now realize that governmental bodies can do little for the grisly state of affairs they find themselves entangled within. While the civil society toils to raise its voice and activism against these crimes, it is obvious that progress cannot be made without the guidance and assistance of police and courts. Until our leaders and our guardians sincerely execute their roles in the protection of the vulnerable segment of society, these disturbing and heartbreaking tragedies will continue.