The offenders must be given exemplary punishments so that no one can ever dare do it again.
The incident of a 25-year-old woman who was gang-raped on a train by ticket-checker and other staffers was horrendous of its kind and is ample proof that despite false claims of puritanical society, our women are not safe alone even on public trains.
According to media reports a woman travelling from Multan to Karachi via Bahauddin Zakariya Express was allegedly gang-raped by railway staff. All three suspects involved in the heinous crime have been arrested by Railway Police. A case has been registered at the City Police Station in Karachi and ticket-checker Zahid, his alleged accomplice Train Manager Aaqib and another person identified as Zohaib have been nominated in the case.
As per the FIR, the victim, a resident of Karachi’s Orangi Town, was divorced by her husband one and half a months ago. Her husband hails from Muzaffargarh, where she had gone to visit her children on May 26. She left Muzaffargarh the very next day for Karachi but could not get a ticket from Multan station. The woman boarded the train without a ticket but got one on the train. However, she had to travel without any seat.
The victim, in her statement to the police, said that when the train left Rohri Station, Zahid approached her, offering to give her a berth in an AC (air-conditioned) compartment. The woman said the ticket-checker followed her to the compartment and sexually assaulted her while giving life threats to stay mum. Later, Aaqib and Zohaib also raped the helpless woman in the same compartment.
I must accolade the courage and conviction woman who stood up against this brutal act and registered FIR and got her assaulters apprehended. Many of these cases must not have been reported since the victim would not have preferred destroying her image in this judgmental society of ours. The offenders must be given exemplary punishments so that no one can ever dare do it again.
Nasir Soomro
Karachi Sindh
