FOR the last three decades or so, I have been reading in the newspapers about the increasing pace of street crimes as well as robberies in Karachi. Literally, every second person in the city has been a victim of one crime or another. No one gets caught and the looted valuables are rarely recovered.

My house was targeted in 2005 when the criminals took away the jewellery of my sister. A report filed with the nearby police station yielded no results. We were so traumatised at the brazen intrusion that our mental and emotional state remained deeply affected. I would remember the details of the incident often, but slowly the pain began to fade. On June 2, 2024, it all came back with much more.

On my way to hospital for a medical check-up at around 2.45pm, my car was circled by two young men on a motorbike. They asked my driver to stop, and when he did, one of them pointed a gun at me and the other reached into the car and pulled at the gold chain, a memory of my sister, from my neck. As he snatched it, the chain broke. Then he took my hands and began to pull out the rings I was wearing; again a present from my sister. One was so difficult to remove that my knuckle was injured.

The bike-rider took up my wallet that was lying on the seat, and took Rs6,000 that I had kept for the doctors’ fee and medicines. They then rushed away. It all happened in a matter of minutes. No passer-by intervened. I was left almost paralysed.

I have tried to approach the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) to get an FIR lodged. Although accommodating and supportive, the officials have not been able to be productive. I have been told more than once that I should be glad that I am still alive in a city where people are killed every day. I have been appreciated that I did not offer resistance.

I am still in a state of shock and disbelief. But, most of all, I feel hopeless. There is no hope for this city, and there is no hope for the people in this country. There is so much rot that people are forced to live in a constant state of despair.

Nikhat Sattar
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2024