Rape Cases in Pakistan: Speedy Justice Must Defeat Delay, Impunity and Extra-Judicial Killing
The recent reported rape and murder of a seven-year-old child in Sargodha has once again left Pakistan in grief, anger and fear. Every such tragedy forces parents to ask a painful question: Are our children safe anywhere?
From the Kasur tragedy involving Zainab Ansari in 2018, to the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway gang rape case in 2020, and now the Sargodha incident, Pakistan has repeatedly witnessed crimes that shock the conscience of the nation. The public reaction is understandable: people demand immediate arrests, harsh punishment and, increasingly, encounter killings of alleged offenders.
But Pakistan must make an important legal and moral distinction: speedy justice is essential; extra-judicial justice is not justice.
A rape accused must be arrested, investigated through modern forensic methods, prosecuted without delay and punished strictly after conviction. The police cannot become investigator, prosecutor, judge and executioner at the same time.
From Kasur to Sargodha: Why Pakistan Remains Afraid?
The rape and murder of Zainab Ansari in Kasur became a national turning point. The case exposed serious concerns about child safety, delayed responses to missing children, weak local monitoring and failures in prevention. It also showed the importance of DNA evidence, CCTV footage, professional investigation and a focused prosecution.
The 2020 Motorway gang rape case near Lahore further shook the country. A French woman of Pakistan-origin was attacked in front of her children after her vehicle stopped on the motorway at night. The case raised major questions about public safety, emergency response, victim-blaming attitudes and policing standards.
Today, the reported Sargodha child rape and murder case has reopened the same wound. A child going to a nearby shop should never become a matter of danger for a family. The details of every pending case must be established through investigation and trial, but the wider public concern is undeniable: Pakistanis are exhausted by repeated incidents of sexual violence against women and children.
What Has Pakistan Done Since the Zainab Case?
After public pressure and national outrage, Pakistan introduced important legal reforms. The challenge is no longer only the absence of law. The greater issue is the proper implementation of law.
1. Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Act, 2020
The Zainab Alert law was introduced to improve the response to missing and abducted children. It provides a legal framework for rapid alerts, coordination between police and relevant authorities, and a national response mechanism for children reported missing or abducted.
The purpose is simple: when a child goes missing, every minute matters. A delayed FIR, casual police response or refusal to register a complaint can cost a life.
2. Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021
The Anti-Rape Act, 2021 is one of Pakistan’s most important laws dealing with rape and sexual violence. It provides for:
- Special Courts for rape and sexual-abuse cases;
- Anti-Rape Crisis Cells in designated hospitals;
- Special Sexual Offences Investigation Units;
- medico-legal examination and evidence collection without delay;
- legal assistance and support advisers for victims;
- in-camera trials to protect privacy;
- video-link facilities and screens for vulnerable victims and witnesses;
- prohibition of the humiliating two-finger virginity test;
- inadmissibility of evidence about a victim’s alleged “immoral character”;
- a target of deciding trials preferably within four months;
- a sex-offender register to be maintained through NADRA.
These are strong protections on paper. However, a law only works when police, prosecutors, medico-legal officers, forensic laboratories and courts work in coordination.
3. Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2021
The 2021 criminal-law amendments modernised the legal definition of rape and expressly addressed gang rape. The law recognises that consent must be voluntary and unequivocal. It also clarifies that lack of physical resistance does not automatically mean consent.
Gang rape is treated as a grave offence, punishable by death, imprisonment for the remainder of natural life, or life imprisonment, along with fine, subject to judicial process and proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Why Extra-Judicial Killing Is Not the Answer
Whenever a horrifying rape case comes before the public, there is often a demand that the alleged rapist should be killed immediately in a police encounter. The anger behind this demand is understandable. But legally and practically, this approach is dangerous.
An accused person is not a convicted criminal until a competent court decides the case after examining evidence.
Pakistan’s Constitution guarantees fair trial and due process. This protection does not mean sympathy for a rapist. It means that the State must prove guilt through reliable evidence, lawful investigation and an independent court.
Extra-judicial killings create several serious problems:
- They can kill the wrong person.
Mistaken identity, false implication, personal enmity and faulty intelligence are real risks. - They destroy the criminal trial.
The victim and family lose the opportunity to see a judicial conviction based on evidence. - They weaken public trust.
When police bypass courts, people begin to believe that law does not matter. - They can hide weak investigation.
Killing a suspect may prevent proper questioning, recovery of evidence, identification of accomplices and exposure of wider criminal networks. - They encourage a culture of violence.
A society that accepts unlawful killing in one case may later suffer when the same power is misused against innocent citizens.
The Crime Control Department, police and all law-enforcement agencies must act firmly against sexual offenders. But firmness must mean lawful arrest, forensic investigation, recovery of evidence, protection of survivors and speedy prosecution.
No police department should become investigator, judge and executioner.
The Basic Reasons Behind Sexual Violence
There is no single cause behind rape and child sexual abuse. It is a serious crime rooted in power, coercion, entitlement, opportunity and the belief that the offender may escape accountability.
Some major factors include:
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weak reporting systems and delayed FIR registration;
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stigma faced by survivors and families;
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victim-blaming attitudes;
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poor preservation of forensic evidence;
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lack of trained investigators and medico-legal staff;
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delayed trials and repeated adjournments;
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threats, blackmail and pressure on victims and witnesses;
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inadequate child-safety awareness in homes, schools and communities;
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weak monitoring of unsafe spaces, shops, transport points and isolated areas.
The offender may be a stranger, neighbour, relative, employer, teacher, shopkeeper or someone otherwise trusted by the family. Therefore, prevention cannot be based only on fear of strangers. It must be based on awareness, supervision, reporting and accountability.
CCD Operations, Public Anger and the Limits of Police Power
Punjab’s Crime Control Department (CCD) was created to confront organised crime, violent gangs, repeat offenders and serious threats to public safety. However, recent encounter-based operations involving alleged gangsters, rape suspects and even persons accused of child molestation have raised a serious constitutional question: can public anger replace a fair criminal trial? Reports of suspects being killed during police operations, or being shot in the genital area as an apparent form of instant punishment, may satisfy public outrage for a moment, but they cannot become a substitute for lawful justice. A rape accused, child molester or hardened gangster must face prompt arrest, forensic investigation, recovery of evidence, identification of accomplices, a speedy trial and the maximum punishment provided by law after conviction. Police officers may use force only where it is genuinely necessary to protect life or respond to an immediate armed threat; they cannot lawfully impose death, mutilation or punishment without judicial determination. If encounter killings or targeted injuries are normalised, the criminal-justice system is weakened, innocent persons may be harmed, and the State loses the moral authority that distinguishes law enforcement from revenge. Pakistan needs a CCD that is effective, professionally trained, accountable and fearless against crime—but always bound by Article 10-A of the Constitution, which guarantees fair trial and due process.
What the Government Must Do?
The government must move beyond public statements after every tragedy. It should establish measurable and transparent systems.
First, every district must have fully functional sexual-offences investigation units, trained female officers, crisis cells and child-friendly reporting arrangements.
Second, forensic services must be strengthened. CCTV footage, DNA samples, mobile-phone data, clothing, digital evidence and medico-legal material must be preserved through a secure chain of custody.
Third, special courts must genuinely meet the purpose of speedy trial. Cases should not remain pending for years because of adjournments, absent witnesses, incomplete challans or weak prosecution.
Fourth, the government should publish district-wise performance data: FIR registration time, forensic reports, challan submission, trial duration, conviction rate and reasons for acquittal.
Fifth, every alleged police encounter resulting in death must be independently examined. A lawful police operation to protect life is one thing; an encounter used as a substitute for trial is another.
Sixth, child-safety education must become part of school and community awareness programmes. Children should be taught age-appropriate personal-safety rules, how to seek help and whom to contact in danger.
What Individuals and Families Must Do?
Families should not remain silent due to fear, shame or social pressure. Sexual violence is the offender’s crime; it is never the victim’s fault.
Parents and guardians should teach children simple safety rules: refuse inappropriate touching, leave unsafe places, shout for help and immediately tell a trusted adult. Children should also be encouraged to speak without fear of punishment.
In case of a missing child or sexual offence, families should immediately approach police, emergency services, child-protection authorities and legal assistance providers. Delay can damage both safety and evidence.
People must also avoid sharing a child’s photographs, videos, name, address or private details on social media. Publicity may harm the child, compromise the investigation and violate privacy.
What Society Must Do?
Society must stop treating rape only as a trending topic for a few days. Real change requires consistent participation by parents, teachers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, religious leaders, shopkeepers, transport operators and local communities.
Schools must create child-protection policies. Markets and commercial areas should use CCTV responsibly. Communities should identify unsafe routes and ensure that children are not left unprotected in vulnerable surroundings.
Most importantly, Pakistan must reject victim-blaming. A child, woman or survivor is never responsible for the crime committed against them.
Conclusion: Justice Must Be Fast, Certain and Lawful
Pakistan does not need emotional slogans after every rape case. It needs a criminal-justice system that works.
The answer is not delay. The answer is not political statements. The answer is not public humiliation. The answer is not encounter killing.
The answer is:
Immediate FIR. Professional investigation. Forensic evidence. Survivor protection. Effective prosecution. In-camera trial. Speedy judgment. Strict lawful punishment.
A country becomes safer not when alleged offenders are killed without trial, but when every offender knows that the State will identify, arrest, prosecute and lawfully punish them without delay.
For the protection of women and children, Pakistan must choose not merely harshness, but certainty of justice.
Pak-Lawyer Associates
Legal awareness for a safer and more accountable Pakistan.
