LAHORE, Sept 14: Scores of civil society activists on Saturday staged protest demonstrations against the rape of a five-year-old girl.

The participants gathered under the banner of the South Asia Partnership (SAP)-Pakistan at various locations, including Simla Pahari, and shouted slogans against the law-enforcement agencies for their failure in arresting the culprits.

They termed the incident “a slap on Pakistani society” that reflected a sense of insecurity. They also declared the country’s criminal justice system useless in punishing those frequently involved in such incidents.

JI: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan and Secretary-General Liaquat Baloch condemned the minor’s rape and said the culprits should be handed down a deterrent punishment.

They said society was facing a fast moral decline and the “free mingling of men and women and immoral programmes” on the media were the main cause. They urged the government to realise the gravity of the situation and adopt measures to check “the evil” before it was too late.

Cecil and Iris Chaudhry Foundation President Michelle Chaudhry also condemned the rape and said justice needs to be prompt and quick.

In a statement issued on Saturday, she said such “barbaric acts had become incidents of power culture”.

She also expressed solidarity with the girl and her family.

Michelle Chaudhry said the suo motu notice of the incident taken by the chief justice of Pakistan was indeed quick, but asked if that was a solution to all such ills.

Earlier, members of the foundation also staged a demonstration outside the Lahore Press Club. The demonstrators raised slogans against the government and police’s failure to arrest the culprits.