THE ‘punishment’ was nothing short of horrific and is deserving of the strongest censure and action against those who ordered and administered it. Media reports have focused on an incident last week in which a landowner from Rahim Yar Khan, on the advice of a so-called faith healer, ordered four villagers — the youngest a 14-year-old girl — to walk on hot oil for alleged theft.

Burnt feet, they were told, would constitute a guilty verdict. The incident shows up the power games that plague feudalism and the subservience of the villagers, who, in this case, were reportedly too terrified to even question the landlord’s command.

Unfortunately, such medieval practices are not unknown in the country.

Practices such as aas aaf, a brutal form of punishment where the person is forced to walk on burning coal or hot oil, are not unknown in Sindh and Balochistan, and are carried out to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. The kind of injury, trauma and mental torture that result can only be imagined.

Feudal structures — and attitudes — remain ingrained in society.

Averse to reforms, those who perpetrate these are too powerful to counter — even by law-enforcement officials who are often at the beck and call of the local influentials.

Given that many of those who are products of a culture that believes in regressive practices such as karo kari, swara and vani are elected to the assemblies, it is not surprising that parallel justice systems, such as jirgas, continue to thrive and deliver arbitrary ‘verdicts’.

Indeed, no government has prioritised easy access to state institutions of justice or genuinely tried to raise awareness among the people about their rights in modern society. A clear message by the state is needed.

Legal instruments to outlaw barbaric acts must be implemented. If the police do their job to make arrests at the right time, it will send a strong signal that impunity will not be tolerated — even at the expense of traditional practices.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2016