National News

Just as things seemed to be taking their course to give closure to Farishta’s family - a minor girl who was raped and murdered in Islamabad – the footage of another much younger girl –Hiba – emerged in which she is being led away into darkness by a monster.The footage shows two small children walking on a busy street in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab at night. Both children are not more than 4 years, the boy older than Hiba.The footage shows the children walking on the road almost bumping into a vehicle that stops for a moment and then moves on, as do the children. Suddenly a man emerges, who has a blue cloth clad over his shoulder, and casually takes hold of Hiba’s hand. Weirdly she allows him to hold her hand without any reaction – as if she knows him – and they begin walking leaving the boy behind. There is a moment where it seems the boy and the unidentified man are speaking.Nothing seems amiss in the footage.The boy then runs to the other side of the busy road as another vehicle passes by – a normal thing on the roads of Pakistan. Children have no sense of road safety in Pakistan and run in and out of moving cars. Nevertheless, traffic was the least of these children’s problems.The boy seems to sense some danger and suddenly runs back towards the girl and the man. The way he runs and tries to reclaim Hiba is when you realize the man is kidnapping her.The demeanour of the man is calm and casual throughout; he is in no hurry to get away.He does not attempt to take the boy with him as well.The frame freezes as the man keeps walking and the boy runs after them.Shortly after this, another video emerges in which the same man and his blue should cloth can be seen buying something at a shop. His face is visible in the video.It should be an easier case to solve as it has more evidence of the criminal than Farishta’s case. However, the police on the other hand proved to be taking their time in acting according to initial media reports. Have the police learned nothing from the Farishta case, which was literally yesterday. Media reports reveal the police had refused to register an FIR,wasting precious time again and the local police station had earlier only filed a temporary complaint. The media then reported that the police was conducting raids to recover the child and the police’s high-level officials had given their assurance that the police was making efforts to recover Hiba as soon as possible.Hopefully, Hiba’s story will have a good ending and she will return to her family safe and sound. However, the government needs to work on the police reforms it had been talking about since before elections. This is the time to put them into play to improve the police performance so that the safety of victims is ensure,especially in cases involving minors.There is no doubt that the government and police have a great responsibility towards the people. However, we cannot absolve the parents and families of their responsibility. With frequent news about crimes against children being reported, parents should be more vigilant. However, it seems many parents are not taking the safety of their own children seriously.At a time when crimes against children are on the rise, parents need to be more active and keep tabs on their children. There is no denying that the government is responsible for its citizens’ safety but parents and families are also responsible for the safety of their children.Looking out for the children can be easy in Pakistan as the majority of people live in a joint family or near family members in the same neighbourhood or lane. Delegated adults can keep an eye out for suspicious people in the area and make periodical checks to make sure all the children are safe.Young children, who are vulnerable themselves, should not babysit younger children and look after them on streets. They should run errands alone or walk home alone from tuition and religious classes at any time of the day, especially at night. This is the time they are vulnerable to the predators awaiting for an opportunity.Meanwhile the authorities need to move fast and make sure the existing protection laws are properly enforced. Work on pending bills and amendments to protection laws should passed be expedited, so they can be put into motion immediately.Only a concerted effort by parents and authorities can ensure the safety of children and keep the monsters at bay.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2Hw5FuF

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