Rates of violence against women, children remain alarming in 2023

2023 was another difficult year for the women of Pakistan who routinely have to battle against violence and discrimination. 

In November, UN Women’s Gender Snapshot 2023 report revealed that 245 million women and girls are subjected to physical and/or sexual violence from their intimate partners each year, adding that a “staggering 86pc of women and girls live in countries without robust legal protections against violence, or in countries where data are not available”.

This violence is not limited to women and girls but extends to boys as well. Back in August, Sahil, an NGO, reported that an average of 12 children per day (or one every two hours) faced sexual abuse in Pakistan in 2023 whereas 2,227 cases of child sexual abuse were traced between January and June this year.

Here are some of the pertinent cases from the year 2023 that took over the headlines:

1. Fatima Case

A domestic maid, 10-year-old Fatima Phuriro, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Ranipur.

The child had been working as a domestic worker at a haveli owned by an influential local, Pir Asad Shah Jilani.

It was not until videos of the child were leaked by an unknown source and circulated in social media that the case caught the media’s eye. By then, the family had buried Fatima on August 15.

The body was later exhumed and sent for an autopsy which revealed that the girl had been raped both vaginally and anally.

The suspects are in custody. 

2.  Rizwana

Rizwana, 14, had been allegedly assaulted and abused while working at a civil judge’s home in Islamabad, after she was accused of stealing jewellery. Rizwana’s family revealed that the girl was not paid a single penny by the family for the extensive workload she was doing and was instead subjected to violence.

Islamabad Police recorded Rizwana’s statement at the Child Protection Bureau in Lahore where she alleged that the judge himself beat her up, hitting her head against the wall, while his wife and children would also assault her.

3. F9 park incident

In February, a girl went to Islamabad’s F-9 park along with her male colleague when two men stopped them at gunpoint and took them to a heavily wooded area where they beat her, raped her and told her to “not come to the park at this time”.

In her FIR, the girl said that the men told her to “not come to the park at this time”.

The incident sparked anger and protests as women questioned the security in the capital of the country.

4. Sara Malik

The year started with the news that a body was found near Farhan Shaheed Park at Seaview, Karachi, in January. Identified as Sara Malik, the 23-year-old employee worked at a veterinary hospital in DHA 8. Registration of a murder case was recorded under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code after further investigations.

Malik initially went missing from Karachi’s Seaview beach and the police reportedly claimed that she might have committed suicide by jumping into the sea but according to police officials, Dr Shan Saleem, who was nominated in the case, confessed to killing her after sexually assaulting her.

5. Principal raping women

The principal of a private school in Gulshan-i-Hadeed, Karachi, was taken into custody in September after allegations of raping and blackmailing women.

Steel Town police Station House Officer (SHO) Nand Lal told media that the school principal was detained as videos of the alleged rape incidents made rounds on social media.

The principal has admitted to the allegations that he raped women after promising them job opportunities, then recording their videos to blackmail them.

It was also revealed that more than 45 women were identified in connection with the case as Irfan allegedly blackmailed the women in order to commit these crimes.

The public prosecutor contended that the case is indicative of a planned scheme.

6. Andaleeb Fatima

Andaleeb Fatima, 13, was named as the victim in an FIR filed by her mother, Khalida Bibi, a resident of Chiniot in Punjab. Andaleeb had been working for the female suspect since July of this year and according to her mother, she was unable to talk to her daughter since was not allowed to do so by her employer.

It was only when Khalida Bibi visited Fatima after several unanswered calls that she found out about the torture inflicted upon her daughter. She found bruises on different parts of her daughter’s body. Fatima told her mother that her employer routinely beat her and tormented her with a hot spoon. She also locked her up and did not feed her food.

7. Special needs children

A nine-year old child with special needs was raped and murdered in Korangi, Karachi.

According to Zaman Town police, the body was found in the “rear seat of a parked Suzuki Cultus car. The body was bluish and foaming from the mouth”.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed reported that the child was differently abled with a right hand deformity. “There were multiple injuries all over the body and findings are suggestive of anal sexual abuse,” she revealed.

Similarly, a 12-year-old student with special needs was sexually assaulted in a school for special children in Rawalpindi.

8. Raped during job application

In January, a woman in Lahore was gang-raped after being lured for a job. The culprits recorded videos of the immoral act to blackmail the victim.

The defendant, Khalil, had invited the woman to travel to Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital for a meeting and had given her a job. As soon as she arrived, the suspect led her to a house where he and two other accomplices forced her into a room and raped her on gun point.

According to the FIR, the woman alleged that the suspect had also videotaped the immoral behaviour and had told her not to call the police.

9. Burnt alive

Shumaila, the woman who was burnt alive by her husband Naseer and his first wife Robina died in a hospital in Lahore. She was admitted to a hospital but could not survive the severity of her burns. The incident happened in a village near Gujranwala, Chak Behlol.

Further investigation revealed that she got divorced from her first husband to marry Naseer who was already married. The constant tussle between the two wives led to this tragic situation where she was burnt alive by Naseer and his first wife in the presence of a crowd of villagers who kept making videos.

Naseer was taken into custody by the police.

10. Boys

In June, a cleric in Lahore’s Raiwind area tried strangling an eight-year-old to death after after he had repeatedly raped him in his madrassah.

The FIR, revealed that the accused Qari Muhammad Rizwan fractured the child’s arm while he was torturing him and had then pushed the boy down stairs from the first floor to the ground floor, which led to severe head injuries that made the boy unconscious.

11. Honour Killing

In September, a married woman from the Alkani tribe was allegedly killed by her husband and his allies over ‘honour’. The stoning took place in the limits of Chucha Border Military Police (BMP) station in the tribal area of Rajanpur district after the woman was accused of adultery with a man, leading to her husband killing her, along with her brother-in-law and their accomplice. They reportedly smashed her head with stones and clubs.

In October, a newlywed couple was shot dead inside a mosque in Jhelum.

Rehman Rasool and Safia recently eloped to get married of their own free will. They were then called in by the girl’s family for reconciliation. Sensing the possible threat, the two of them took refuge in a mosque’s courtyard but got gunned down by the family, nevertheless.