Victims of the Kasur sex scandal are awaiting justice for a long time now. Even after the news making rounds on mainstream and social media, the government has only helped the victims for face saving rather than actually getting the abusers behind bars. The victims have recently blamed the Punjab government for supporting and proving aid to the culprits, who are facing criminal trial in local courts. The residents of Kasur district addressed a Press Conference outside the Lahore Press Club on Tuesday to highlight the issue and threaten the government if nothing is done about it.

It is highly shameful that the authorities have not been able to help out the victims and their families. Providing them legal aid should have been their top priority rather than the accused having the liberty to freely threaten the families and the victims inside the vicinity of the courts and that too, along with the police force. According to relatives, the victims , on different occasions, were attacked by the accomplices of the criminals when they were on their way to the courts. If such is the situation till now, the authorities need to be held accountable and questioned about their priorities. It is no wonder that the victims and their families want to protest right in front of the Punjab Assembly and have also threatened to self immolate if the authorities do not make amends as soon as possible.

After the news broke out, the government should have been on its toes and pushed for quick justice in these cases because child abuse is quite rampant in Pakistan. This would have set a positive precedent and also encouraged victims to seek justice. Those mindlessly engaging in such heinous acts would have thought twice before committing such a crime.

However, the government seems to be treading on the opposite path. It is no surprise that the victims have urged the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to take action in this regard. The civilian government needs to up its game and do the needful. It is not the time to act sluggish, neither can this mass scandal be swept under the rug. They need to act and they need to act now.