THE incident of stripping off and parading a young girl in a D.I. Khan village exposes the lawlessness in the area.

The perpetrators of this heinous offence should be awarded an exemplary punishment. Reportedly, the culprits acted audaciously as they were backed by an influential politician.

Similarly, a few months back, another girl in Muzafargarh was raped for the crime of her brother. According to the World Economic Forum(WEF), the gender gap in Pakistan stands at 68.3pc and such incidents strenghten the fact that the dream of women’s empowerment in our country is not going to be realised soon. The WEF further reports that it requires another century for women to gain equal rights with men in Pakistan.

In the name of ‘wani’ and ‘sawera’, girls are traded to make peace with rival parties.

Muhammad Fayyaz
Mianwali

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2017