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Alleged gang rape in Pakistan’s ‘Central Park’ sparks protests




Islamabad, Pakistan
CNN

The gang rape of a woman in a park in Pakistan has outraged women’s rights activists, who are protesting what they see as “growing sexual barbarism” in the country.

The woman, 24, was with a male colleague in Islamabad’s Fatima Jinnah park – known locally as F9 park and the city’s largest park – last Thursday when they were attacked. two armed men attacked, according to a statement she filed with authorities. police, viewed by CNN.

The woman alleges the men forced the couple to a “jungle area” of the park, where they tore her clothes and raped her.

She said the men told her she shouldn’t be at the park at night and asked about her connection to her co-workers.

“When I reacted, I was slapped. My hair was pulled and I was thrown to the floor,” the woman said in a police statement.

The incident has sparked outrage in a country of 220 million people, which is highly patriarchal and home to frequent violent attacks against women and girls.

Many protesters tied their dupattas – scarves worn by South Asian women – to the park’s railing, alongside messages calling for change.

“Please don’t let another sister suffer,” one note read. “Save Pakistani Women and Children,” read another.

Human rights organization Aurat Azadi March (Women’s Freedom March) said in a statement: “Sexual barbarism is on the rise in Pakistan, and the state and society’s silence on Crime is unacceptable.”

“We are very angry. We are in pain. And we will not let this be forgotten.”

A spokesman for the Islamabad police told CNN that so far no arrests have been made in the incident.

Fatima Jinnah Park is a vast oasis spread across central Islamabad in an affluent part of the city and with a high security presence. It is often likened to New York’s Central Park because families often gather for festivals and children play in the park throughout the day.

The government on Sunday ordered domestic TV channels not to cover the alleged assault, citing the need to protect the woman’s identity.

In a statement, Pakistan’s Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority said any broadcast of the bulletin was “prohibited with immediate effect”.

According to the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, more than 5,200 women report being raped in the country by 2021, but experts believe the real number is much higher because many women are afraid to report it due to social stigma. and blame the victim.

Reuters reported in December 2020, citing the Karachi-based nonprofit War Against Rape, that less than 3% of sexual assaults or rapes are convicted in Pakistan.

In December 2020, Pakistan strengthened its rape law to set up special courts to hear cases within 4 months and provide medical examination of women within 6 hours of complaints. But activists say Pakistan continues to disappoint women and does not have a nationwide law criminalizing domestic violence, leaving many vulnerable.

In 2021, beheading Noor Mukadam, daughter of the Pakistani ambassador, shocked the country with protesters calling on the government to do more to protect women.

Her killer, Zahir JafferThe 30-year-old son of an influential family and a Pakistani-American dual citizen, who knows Mukadam, was sentenced to death by an Islamabad judge last February.

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