Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari on Thursday called for placing curbs on the country's youth "to teach them a lesson", holding them responsible for the recent rise in violence against women.

The minister made the remarks during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights where the Ministry of Human Rights presented a report on the horrific assault of a young women by a violent mob near Minar-i-Pakistan on Aug 14.

Mazari suggested imposing restrictions on youngsters and said that a certain time slot would be designated for women at parks.

"Why are restrictions being imposed on women?" she questioned, adding that restrictions needed to be placed on men, not women.

"It has been observed that most of the problems are caused by the youth. Curbs should be imposed on them to teach the youth a lesson," she said.

The minister also took exception to Senator Abida Azeem's remarks, who stated that women should not venture out of the house alone. "Such incidents will happen when a women ventures out alone, which should not happen," Azeem said.

Mazari responded by saying: "You can't say that it is the woman's fault. [By that logic] you should also tell men not to leave the house alone."

She said that the Constitution gave equal rights to all citizens. We cannot say that a woman can only leave the house when she is accompanied by a man, the minister said.

The incident

Lahore police had registered a case against hundreds of unidentified persons for assaulting and stealing from a female TikToker and her companions at the city's Greater Iqbal Park. The case had garnered attention on social media, with citizens and activists calling for action against those involved in the incident.

In the report presented to the Senate body, the ministry said that it was monitoring human rights violations in the country.

It noted that the incident had taken place on Independence Day, while Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari had taken notice on Aug 17 and ensured the registration of a first information report.

It said that those involved in the incident had been arrested and and four special committees had been constituted for further investigation.

The ministry said that 141 people were arrested, and the victim had identified six of them during an identification parade.

The committee also expressed concern over Pakistan's inclusion in the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) list by the United States and decided to write a letter to the United Nations and the US in this regard.

"The US has levelled a false allegation against Pakistan," Mazari said, adding that Pakistan rejected such baseless claims. She said that Pakistan was fully implementing the UN charter on child soldiers.