WorlPosted at: Jul 31 2021 7:25PM Women lawmakers in Pakistan demand public hanging of rapists, murderers
Islamabad, Jul 31 (UNI) Women lawmakers in Pakistan have demanded that the killer of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, the daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, be sentenced to death and that rapists and killers of women and children be hanged publicly.
The National Assembly, during Friday’s proceedings, unanimously condemned the gruesome acts of violence against women and children, especially the murder of Noor earlier this month that sent shockwaves across Pakistan.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Asma Qadeer broke into tears while speaking on the floor of the House about the gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam and the rising number of cases in the country of violence against women and children, Geo reported.
Mehnaz Akbar Aziz from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Shamim Ara from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) demanded capital punishment for the killer of Noor Mukadam.
Ara also demanded capital punishment for all other murderers and rapists of innocent children. “We will have to implement laws strictly so that no one can dare commit such crimes, whether it is [the] Motorway case or the killing of Noor Mukadam,” she was quoted as saying.
MNA Aziz said: “Noor Mukadam murder-like incidents will not stop unless the death penalty is implemented.” She said the culprits should be tried in anti-terrorist and speedy trial courts. “We want the decision in the case not in a year, but in months,” she said.
PML-N's Romina Khurshid, too, called for an exemplary punishment for the culprit, saying that the tragic incident should not be shown on the media again and again to avoid encouraging others.
The rape and murder case of a three-year-old girl in Lahore was raised by Jamshed Thomas and Sunila Ruth. Laws already exist but there is a need to change attitudes as there has been a lot of moral deterioration, the MNAs said.
Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul, too, spoke about the Noor murder case. “This is not a blind case, every fact is before us and all the culprits have also been apprehended,” she said.
Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said the government was closely following the case, while the prime minister was also being apprised of the developments. She said the case was moving in the right direction.
She asked that electronic and social media to avoid sensationalism on the issue and photos that could hurt the victim's family not be shown by the media.
"Women should not be exploited in the name of wife, mother and daughter," the human rights minister said.
The minister said it was wrong to say that a woman was victimised because she was wearing a western dress and she was not following cultural values.
PML-N MNA Khurram Dastgir said the Noor Mukadam case was a challenge and a test case for the federal government.
Meanwhile, the district and sessions court in Islamabad on Saturday extended the physical remand of Zahir Zakir Jaffer — the primary suspect in Noor Mukadam's brutal murder case — by two more days after the prosecution asked for more time to investigate "new details and characters" found in the CCTV footage.
Noor, daughter of former Pakistani diplomat Shaukat Mukadam, was found brutally murdered at a residence in Islamabad's upscale Sector F-7/4 on July 20.
A first information report (FIR) was registered later the same day against Jaffer, who was arrested from the site of the murder, under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim's father. Jaffer is the son of a prominent businessman.
UNI RN SHK1925