Pedophilia in Pakistan: The Unheard Victims

* Sehrish is a fictional name given to a  real character, solely  for the purpose of giving a clear understanding. Pedophilia is not new in Paksitan, many victims are still living on fighting their horrors.

Sehrish’s Story:

I stood there looking at the horrified faces of my family. Their eyes glued to the Television screen  followed by occasional nods of disapproval. Being discrete never seem to work, with my  presence now the news channel was conveniently flipped.  Even though my dad wasn’t able to rub off the expression on his face.

‘what has the world come to’ he said ‘ raping a 3 year old and dumping her into the sewer .Inhumane Filthy animals, what have we become its unbelievable nowadays’.

I had to stop the urge, managing a mumble  to myself  ‘this isn’t new, this has been happening for years, unnoticed  ,unspoken violence’.

She wanted to kill herself for the thought that may be  Sana’s death would open people’s eyes to this world of savagery, may be it was a sign. A sign that would put parents in a cautious state, make them acknowledge the risks out there for their children.  As absurd at may sound but Sana’s story would have cut the suffering short for me, if not preventing it.  If only my parents and the parents of many other like me would have known how often kids fall victim to pedophilia.  I want to scream out and say this isn’t the first victim, that this isn’t a thing of today, that many victims like me continue to live the horrors of their past.

The world should acknowledge that I exist. That I have fought and survived this, so the world should know and prevent. I choose not to be a victim , I choose to be a survivor living to make the change happen.

The Facts :

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Thursday transferred the kidnap-cum-murder case of a three-year-old girl to an anti-terrorism court.

Photo Courtesy:Dawn

Police constables Bashir Ahmed and Noor Mohammad allegedly kidnapped Sana on July 3 when she was playing with her friends near her home in Korangi, killed her and dumped the body into a manhole near the FTC building. The prosecution said the body was recovered on a lead given by the suspects.

Sana’s case has now been transferred to the anti terrorism court. The assaulters are  currently in police custody.  Sana’s mother says she will settle for nothing else but burning the assaulters alive with her bare hands.

With her case in the mainstream media and n courts, I hope that this doesn’t end here. That this becomes the pivot  for change. Time to acknowledge that many have suffered at the hands of Pedophilia, and its about time that this should be stopped.  Lets not  wait for more frail dead bodies to pile up ,more scars to be made. Lets open our eyes to this and acknowledge its presence, on then will we be able to fight it.

One of those working for the change is ROZAN, an NGO helping victims of pedophilia. Educating children by means of animated cartoons and warning parents to llok for signs. Hats off to the team. Please support their cause.