The graph of deadly crimes taking place in the country was never as high as it is today. The daily incidence of dacoities, robberies and killing on resistance, occurring in Lahore alone, have reached alarming proportions. This is in addition to the families being massacred on account of family feuds and cases of rapes and assaults. Calculating it all on national level, the figure would be enormous. As per newspaper reports there have been at least four cases of minor girls being raped during the last one month. The latest such case is about a six years old girl who raped by a colleague of her father in village Alinagar of Wazirabad district. The culprit has been arrested and the case registered. The crime rate cannot be curbed unless crime and punishment go together. The punishment must be severe as well as prompt so that it serves as a deterrent. For instance there is no need of any witnesses in the above case. The DNA test is considered the most reliable evidence all over the world in such cases. It should be conducted at once and if 'positive' the culprit must be hanged without delay. The whole process should not take more than a couple of weeks. Thousands of cases remain piled up in courts for years because our authorities are in the habit of putting them in cold storage. They are deferred from one date to the second, to the third, to the fourth and so on for one reason or the other. -RAFI NASIM, Lahore Cantt., via e-mail, May 9.