Kudos to Andleeb Abbas of Pakistan Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) for presenting an interesting objective perspective on the incidents of gang-rape in our society through her op-ed 'Healing the heart' for this newspaper yesterday. No doubt her anger over the recent Motorway gang-rape is quite profound. It is true that "pain of the heart is much more than the pain of the body. Rape is outrageous. Gang-rape is devastating. Being gang raped in front of your children is unimaginable and unbearable. ... Rape incidents in Pakistan have been on constant rise." In one of her tweets, she has pointed out that "over the years the police apathy is outrageous ... our shambolic criminal justice system fails to convict the rapists".

Her remarks, however, appear to be just stereotypes. She, in my view, is required to go beyond words as she's a PTI MNA. Actions speak louder than words. The government's strategy must be aimed at taking a holistic view of the overall challenge and stipulating steps aimed at effectively presenting the recurrence of such incidents. All those involved in the gang-rape must be arrested and awarded exemplary punishment without any further loss of time. It's PTI government's responsibility to introduce police and criminal justice reforms.

HUMAIRA REHAN (LAHORE)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020