Kasur, known for the Sufi Saint, Bulleh Shah is a city and district headquarter, bordered to the north by Lahore, by India to the south and east, the city is adjacent to the Pak-India border of Ganda Singh Wala. However, in 2015, a globally doomed fame came to it’s credit by the child abuse videos of 280 children in the hands of almost 15 culprits.
This was so filthy that the world forgot its then present, inherited fame of The Indus Valley Civilization and its rulers of Achaemenid Empire, Alexander The Great, Maurya Empire, Indo-Greek kingdom, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, White Huns, Kushano-Hephthalites, Hindu Shahi kingdoms, Mahmud of Ghazni, Sultan Sebuktegin, Shahis of Kabul, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, Kheshgi tribe of Pashtuns, Mughal Empire, Sikh Rulers and The British Raj together.
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system of Punjab could find only two culprits in country’s biggest child abuse scandal due to the confusion created by dubbing this issue into a property dispute, political mismanagement and the inability of police and other LEAs due to external pressures, but the good side was that somehow, due to the continuous media focus, interest of the civil society, human rights organizations, child protection bureau, chief minister of the province and residents of the Kasur district the case was concluded and both were sentenced for a life in prison and a fine of Rs. 300,000 (3000$) each.
But the hack never ended here, soon after, during the year 2017, 11 cases were registered in which minors were murdered after subjecting to rape/sodomy. Kasur Police claims to have traced 05 cases and “killed” the culprits after arresting them in a bid to provide “speedy justice” to parents of those children but another 6 cases are still pending as the DNA reports from the forensic lab suggest that there is one serial rapper and killer responsible for all the remaining unsolved cases the latest of which happened a couple of months ago. All of these cases were reported not in the whole district but in the jurisdiction of three Police Stations of Kasur city; “A-Division, B-Division and Sadar Kasur”.
The failure of police in arresting the serial killer raises serious questions on the status of the “solved cases” even; because the critics are of the view that 5 people who were killed by the police with a claim that they were involved in these rape and kill events were actually not the culprits and that the one single serial killer who is still at large is the sole responsible for all these crimes. This claim gets more strength when the police has shared or claimed no DNA match record of all those who were killed as criminals with the children that were subjected to rape and death in the respective events.
And then all of the cases reported until now are very similar in nature, such as, happened in under construction houses, all incidents occurred between 1600 HRS till 2100 HRS, girls from 5-8 years old were targeted and Rape and murder were committed in all incidents. In the period of one year, three District Police Officers (DPOs) have marked their name in the commander’s list as SSP Zulfiqar Ali is the third police head of the district after Ismail Kharrak and Ali Nasir Rizvi but the killer has been successfully exercising his grungy might on lives of the innocent children. The present DPO claims, however, that he is very near in arresting the actual serial killer and waiting for a DNA report from the forensic lab to be sure.
But that is not about the investigation and police action alone. The district headquarters, Kasur, since 2015, has been proving time and again that a serious problem lies in the society itself, in the education and training, in the thought process of the citizens who deplore the events for a moment and then forget the agony of the affected parents altogether. There is no doubt in claiming that Kasur, today is the only district of Pakistan which tops in child abuse cases and that there is no end to these events. An action therefore is needed on the softer side of the issue, (i-e) advocacy, teacher training, awareness campaigns and political commitment to brainstorm and sensitize the citizens and seek their help to bring an end to all this.
Fortunately, District Administration Kasur is taking serious steps on this side. Because of my interest in the subject, on the invitation of Deputy Commissioner Kasur, Ms. Saira Umer, as a member of district child protection committee, I have been looking at the actions taken by her office to educate people of the district regarding Child Protection. In October 2017, she constituted a district child protection committee in her chairmanship, having District Police Officer Kasur as the Co-Convener. Rana Sikandar Hayat Chairman District Council Kasur, Abdul Salam Arif Addl. Deputy Commissioner (Gen), District Information Officer Ch. Abdul Wahid, SP Investigation, District Public Prosecutor, DSP Legal, Deputy Director Social Welfare, Assistant Commissioner Kasur, CEOs of DHA and DEA Kasur, Good Thinkers, DRCS, Religious Leaders of different sects, civil society representatives and a psychologist have been appointed as its members.
To keep the committee active, the DC has allotted a special office as the “Child Protection Centre” to receive complaints and follow the incidents on a regular basis. A district child protection helpline number has been advertised and is active now. The Chairman National Council for Human Rights, Justice (Rtd) Ali Nawaz Chohan and Chairperson of Punjab Child Protection Bureau, Mrs. Saba Sadiq have been visiting the district continuously.
Since its inception, the committee has done a wonderful job for sensitization of people regarding child protection on grass root level like union councils, wards, schools (etc). Through this exercise they have sensitized more than 4560 teachers and 155662 students on this sensitive issue. This practice is still going on. District Administration has organized many capacity building training sessions in collaboration with District Education Authority and “Plan International”. Hundreds of female and male DEOs, DDOs, AEOs, Principals, Head Mistresses and Teachers of Government Schools have participated in these awareness events.
Reps. of “Plan international”, “Child Rights Movement” and “Good Thinker Organization” are delivering awareness lectures to the participants. They have successfully done awareness sessions with the religious scholars as well and until today more than 150 Ulmas, Members of Peace Committee and Christian Fathers/ Priests have attended these seminars by the district administration. Private school teachers and principals are also getting training on the subject of “sensitization of the students on their protection”.
While this may not bring any rapid change, but the after effects in the longer run can ensure a safe Kasur. While the police are searching for “hard” targets, the civil administration of the district is working to reduce the “soft” targets; the children.
Hope remains.
