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#RemoveCCPOLahore: Twitter enraged after Lahore’s police chief blames victim in motorway gang-rape case

The Brown Identity

Another spine chilling incident has left the citizens of Pakistan enraged. All but some of them. Earlier this week, a woman who has not been named, was allegedly raped while she was stranded on the motorway with her children; after which they robbed her of her money and other valuables.

 

She was on her way back to the city via Lahore’s Ring Road at 01:03am on Tuesday evening when she was approached by two armed men, raped and then robbed of her belongings. She was a resident of Gujranwala and as she commenced her journey, her vehicle ran out of fuel just an hour later near Gujjarpura. The stranded woman waited for her husband and had called a relative for help in the meantime. She was advised to call the motorway police.

 

After calling the motorway police’s 130 emergency helpline for assistance, she was told by the operator that she could not be helped as the emergency beat had not been assigned to anyone. She was left with no choice but to wait for her husband and as she waited, stranded on the road, two unidentified armed men arrived by foot from a nearby area. As they arrived at the car, they smashed the window, dragging her and her children out. They cut through the fence and into the field where they raped her in the presence of her children. This is how the incident ensued as per the FIR.

This is yet another incident which reminds us that the streets are not safe for the women of Pakistan, no matter what time of day it may be. As a case has been registered, newly-appointed police chief of Lahore Umar Shaikh has only managed to make the situation worse and landed himself in hot waters with his statement. He, just like many others would, has suggested that the victim was to blame for the situation.

 

“What surprises me is that, being a mother of three (young) children and the only driver (unaccompanied by an adult male), why would she not take the GT Road that has population around it? If nothing else, she should have checked her fuel…,” CCPO Umar Sheikh said while speaking to a local news channel. Ever since the interview aired, the clip has been circulating on social media and of course, has left Twitterati infuriated. Ever since, #RemoveCCPOLahore has been trending across social media.

 

Human Rights Minister, Shireen Mazari was among the first to speak out on the matter and took to Twitter to say, “For an officer to effectively blame a woman for being gang raped by saying she should have taken the GT Road or question as to why she went out in the night with her children is unacceptable & have taken up this issue. Nothing can ever rationalise the crime of rape. That’s it.”

 

 

A number of celebrities and social media personalities have taken to the micro blogging site to speak out against the blatant victim-blaming and urging for an end to this mindset. Victim blaming in the country is a regular occurrence and now it appears that enough is enough.

 

“Is this how we protect the women of our country, by posting blame on them? Outraged at not just what happened, but also the current response to the barbaric incident. Justice should be swift and equal for everyone. Even more so for the women of this country! #motorwayincident,” actor Ali Rehman Khan wrote.

 

 

Fury has been building up inside the citizens of the country and people are being vocal about justice for these women. Many also called for the public hanging of rapists and sexual predators.

 

“Numbed, outraged, horrified. We have failed women as a nation. This MUST stop. Make them feel safe,” wrote Adnan Siddiqui about the horrific incident.

 

 

This also begs the question about why women can walk around safely at any given time of day in foreign country, but are unable to do so in Pakistan. On this, actor Ayesha Omar makes a valid point. “And what if a woman needs to go out at night for an emergency. What if she or someone in her family needed medical help? I can walk on the streets at 1 am in other parts of the world and feel completely safe but just not in my own country, even inside a car. #motorwayincident”

 

 

 

An enraged Zara Noor Abbas too took to Twitter and highlighted that the same cycle follows every time an incident such as this occurs, and rightly so. “Everyone will talk like every damn time and this very minute another rape is taking place and just like every time we write about it and then it trends and becomes a hashtag. But then what? Then another Rape happens. Then another. Then another,” she penned.

 

 

 

Together with #RemoveCCPOLahore, #motorwayincident and #HangRapistsPublically are hashtags that have been trending across social media. On this, one Twitter user wrote, “Hang rapist publicly for days till decay – it’s not an option but the ultimate solution :(,” while Zaid Ali T added, “A newborn baby was RAPED. A cat was RAPED. A mother was RAPED. A 6-year-old child was RAPED. It is time for us as a nation to SPEAK UP! It is now or NEVER!

 

http://thebrownidentity.com/2020/09/11/lahore-motorway-incident-mahira-khan-claps-back-at-troll-blaming-artists-for-assault/

 

Political figures, including Prime Minister Imran Khan Pakistan People’s Party Leader Sharmila Faruqi also condemned the incident while Sharmila Faruqii was of the view that a “zero tolerance policy” should be adopted toward men who support the criminal while bashing the victim. Prime Minister Imran Khan assured that those responsible for the heinous act would be taken to task.

 

 

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