After a wait of months and a lot of twists and turns, an additional session court sentenced Usman Mirza and his 4 accomplices in couple harassment case in Islamabad last month. The case emerged on social media in July last year through a video in which Mirza and his friends were seen harassing and thrashing a couple in a room. The female victim later told the court that she was “threatened with gang rape if she didn’t have sex with her friend while they filmed it” and “they forced her to dance naked in front of them.”
The video went viral following which Islamabad police registered a case against them and arrested Mirza and seven others.
The case even got the attention of the then Prime Minister Imran Khan who ordered speedy justice, saying, “the police should use all their energies to bring all the accused to justice and share the report with the PM Office.” Under extreme pressure from government and civil society, the hearing of the case started in court. Everyone was hoping that with the premier following the case, the victims will get quick justice. However, that is not what transpired.
In January earlier this year, the female victim suddenly refused to pursue the case against Mirza and his friends under her “free will”. She admitted an affidavit in the court deciding not to pursue the case. She told the court that “police itself created this case, neither I have recognised any accused nor have I signed any papers.” She further said that she didn’t know any of the accused and no one tried to assault her sexually. This obviously caused an uproar on social media as activists and masses expressed concern that the accused will be released from the jail.
Human rights activist Shamila Ghyas Ahmed says, “Blackmailing has been going on since the case became public. Usman Mirza even boasted in a TikTok video that he’ll be out soon and thanked police officials for helping him.”
Journalist Salman Masood noted, Usman Mirza’s case is proof of how difficult it is to get justice in a system that is rotten, easy to manipulate, and where the powerful always escape accountability.”
Rights activists maintain that there needs to be proper policing, a pressure-free environment and robust security for the victims. Furthermore, they insist that society needed to be taught there is no shame in reporting such cases, which is the only way to get justice and to tackle this menace.
This uproar resulted in something positive as police and state became the complainant in this case. And thus, it reached its ultimate result.
Experts warn that even though the case was eventually resolved, it exposed the weakness of our justice system and how easy it is to manipulate it.
There are countless examples where the powerful escape legal punishment or even if they are penalised, they enjoy a life of luxury in prison. A major example of this is the Shahrukh Jatoi case who was found leading a comfortable life in a hospital room despite being sent to jail by the Supreme Court.
Observers also maintain that the case highlights the menace of sexual assault in our society and how powerful can easily evade any kind of consequences.
According to Human Rights Ministry report, as many as 14,456 women were assaulted in the country in last four years. 4,326 cases of rape reported in the year 2018 followed by 4,377 rape cases in 2019, 3,887 cases in 2020 and 1,866 cases in 2021. But the gravest part of this report is that it mentioned that only 4 per cent of total rape cases result in the conviction.
Analysts reiterate that a large number of cases are not reported, and even those are not handled by the police properly. After reaching the court, the pressure tactics and other manners result in an abysmally low conviction rate.
Rights activists maintain that there needs to be proper policing, a pressure-free environment and robust security for the victims. Furthermore, they insist that society needed to be taught there is no shame in reporting such cases, which is the only way to get justice and to tackle this menace.
“Pietist women have become empowered to pitch an unprecedented offensive against feminists and they are supported by a government that promotes peak piety as its policy and is reinforced by a misogynist media that glorifies women’s domestication,” noted Afiya S Zia, the author of ‘Faith and Feminism in Pakistan’.
“The right-wing is ideologically clear in that the source of women’s security lies in the family and domestic sphere and that their organised political party with its gender apartheid agenda is the pathway to achieving this goal,” noted Afiya S Zia, the author of ‘Faith and Feminism in Pakistan’
A progressive counternarrative is needed that ensures women’s security based on their own selves and not what their gender identity signifies to families and societies.
