“She was very cheerful and wanted to be an
international cricketer. At a very young age she used
to bowl fast and bat like a batsman and realizing her interest we allowed her to play cricket.”
–Halima Rafique’s cousin
Born in 1997, Halima Rafique was a part of Multan Cricket Team. In July 2013, she joined four other players of the team to level allegations of sexual harassment against the chairman of Multan Cricket Club, Maulvi Alam. Pakistan Cricket Board set up an investigation team to probe into the issue. Of the five accusers, two did not appear before the committee. Halima was one of them. The remaining three denied the accusations of harassment they had earlier charged. As a result, the case was dismissed by PCB. Five of them were banned from playing cricket for six months. This was, however, not the end of the story. Maulvi Alam, the accused, filed a defamation case of 20 million rupees against all the accusers. The news, which also got published in a newspaper, must have shook the sixteen years old, father less Halima of a lower middle class background so much so that she entered washroom and drank toilet cleaner to commit suicide. Police did not take any actions since the family refused to report the case.
Halima Rafique was a Miss Wrong. She was born in the wrong country in a wrong class with a wrong gender with wrong ambitions. Her bravery of speaking up against the harassment she faced instead of the expected, “respectable” path of staying silent was the nail in the coffin. She must have realized she is Miss Wrong and decided to take the first “right” step by not appearing before the committee. But, perhaps, it was too late. She must have taken her life so that she can go back to God and ask him why she was created Miss Wrong? More Power to #Metoo movement.