KARACHI: Stepping into the Department of Criminology at the University of Karachi truly felt like you had reached a crime scene as many areas at the department were cordoned off with yellow warning ribbons.

One such scene of crime had two dummies (read corpses) of a wife and husband. It looked like the husband had killed the wife before hanging himself from a ceiling fan. All the evidence had been collected and numbered, including the bullets — one of which had also got stuck in the wall — cigarette butts, mobile phones, the murder weapon, finger prints, bloody footprints, etc.

Tanvir Ahmed, a student of BS final year, took you through it all but pointed out that even though it all looked like the husband had shot the wife and committed suicide, nothing should be assumed as there was still a need for a forensic investigation

For that, there was a need to understand the scientifically proven method of forensics to trace and test evidence and its components such as identification, recognition, examination, etc, Syed Razi Hasnain, a third year student, explained all that.

Students of Criminology Dept showcase their projects on campus

Sharjeel Kalam, a final year Criminology student, and his team had researched about crime among transpersons after them being ignored, bullied, harassed and discriminated against. “Transpersons are involved in organised crime. They are involved in human trafficking, and so many other things,” he said.

“Just because they are not getting any opportunities in society to earn a decent living, they start begging, which is the first step towards wrongdoings. And from there they move to drug trafficking and prostitution,” he explained.

“This problem can be remedied by educating them and reserving space for them in schools, colleges and universities. Public awareness about them is also necessary through seminars, exhibitions and the kind as they also deserve respect,” said another final year student, Asma Ghaffar.

More projects tackled issues such as juvenile delinquency, personality disorders, human trafficking and human smuggling. And yes, they are not the same, as explained by other students.

Naeem Kamal, one of the visiting faculty of the department, was most happy to take the media around and show them all projects the students had worked so hard on completing.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2023