LAHORE: People from various sections of society gathered at the Liberty roundabout at 8pm on Friday to demonstrate against the motorway gang rape.

Lawyers, doctors, parliamentarians, rights activists and members of the social welfare organisations participated in the demonstration and condemned the remarks made by Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh.

Lawyer Ambreeen Fatima, Fatimah from Bedari, Durre Shawar from the All Pakistan Women’s Association and Nabila Shaheen from the Aurat Foundation were present along with 15 parliamentarians.

Nabila deplored that women faced safety issues all the time and there was little implementation of law to counter this problem. She said if any specific area on the motorway was unsafe in terms of security, it should not have been made operational.

The absence of camera footage was a big question mark, she added.

Durre Shawar said that safe travel for women must be ensured.

“Women feel unsafe all the time when in public places,” she said. “Single women and single mothers must be given the same importance as others. In this age, there are many single women who are travelling between cities, especially between Lahore and Islamabad,” she added

Young doctors from the Services Hospital, led by Dr Imran and Dr Salman Haseeb Chaudhry, were also in the protest.

“There should be the writ of the government on the streets of cities and towns and complete implementation of law,” demanded Dr Salman.

“Trials especially of such heinous crimes like rape and gang rape must be expedited social awareness must be created for long-term changes in the mindset,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) issued a press release, demanding arrest of the rapists and that the police officers under whose jurisdiction the crime took place be removed from office on basis of their misogynistic conduct and dereliction of duty.

Activist Farooq Tariq said the gang rape was a slap in the face of the police and the government as it had exposed several huge flaws in the system. He condemned the overall campaign against women by sections of society.

Minority rights activist Peter Jacob said it was not just this incident but a trend or a pattern that was making everyone feel insecure.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2020