PESHAWAR, July 12: The Society for Human Rights and Prisoners Aid has expressed concern over large-scale violations of human rights in the NWFP, and has appealed to the government to take measures to improve the situation.
In a press release issused on Monday, the NGO said it had collected 1,204 cases of rights violations over the last four months, from March till June 2004. The statement said the total number of cases in the month of April was 198, in which 145 people, 131 males and 13 females, were killed.
In many cases, it added, the cause happened to be petty issues and the culprits could not be arrested, which was a cause for grave concern. In the same month, 12 persons lost their lives by committing suicide, out of whom eight were males and four were females. Some of the factors behind the suicides were unemployment, family disputes, depression and financial crisis.
Moreover, six cases of domestic violence have been reported and a large number included violence against women. In the month of June, 17 cases of kidnapping were recorded, which included nine males, six females and four children.
Likewise, 39 cases of robbery took place in which mostly poor people were deprived of their hard-earned money. Commenting on the deteriorating law and order situation in the province, Coordinator Sheraz Khan of the NGO has urged civil society to step forward and develop a peaceful and healthy society.
