Harrasement Victims: Universities & Police Protecting Suspects

HYDERABAD: There have been complaints from harassed students, such as house officer Parveen Rind and Almas Behan, who allege that their harassers have not been arrested and are protected by the administrations of the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences in Nawabshah, Sindh University and the local police.

They pleaded with the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the prime minister, and other high-ranking authorities to provide them with justice.

Some of them were speaking during a demonstration against the growing incidences of harassment of female students in Sindh’s educational institutions organised by the Journalists, Writers, and Civil Society for Truth, Peace, and Justice (JWC). The event ended with a protest at Marvi girls’ hostel in SU.

Instead of providing her with justice and security, Almas Behan stated, the administration of the Sindh University(SU) sought to frighten her away. Even after she submitted a report of harassment, no action was taken. Instead, she claims she was harassed and threatened in the name of an investigation committee.

According to her, no one was held accountable for the attempted kidnapping. As per her, she was forced to leave school because she was afraid, but no one from the institution, including the vice chancellor, followed up with her or gave her any assurances that they would address her concerns.

Her claim was that police raided her residence even though she was the victim. Such instances discouraged the few parents in rural regions who permitted their daughters to seek higher education, she added.

PUMHS, Nawabshah nursing student Parveen Rind, a house officer, determined to speak out till justice gets done in her case. She promised to keep speaking out against acts of harassment.

According to Ms Rind, after refusing to fulfil their “unethical” directives, three university officials allegedly beat Ms Rind to death in her dorm room a few days prior.

Dr Gulshan Ali Memon, the university’s vice chancellor, had not taken any action regarding her allegation, and in fact, he was backing the accused authorities included in the FIR. Nawabshah authorities and police were also allegedly sheltering the primary suspect, according to her.

Assaults and murders of young girls were ruled as suicides, she said. In the same way, she was going to be blackmailed, but she refused to be blackmailed.

According to her, investigations conducted by committees set up in the wake of harassment episodes had similarly come up empty-handed, and she pleaded with Pakistan’s Chief Justice, Prime Minister, and other relevant authorities to do what was right and serve her justice.

There have been several people, including Dr Niaz Kalani and Peeral Majidano, who have called for an investigation into the recent uptick in harassment complaints. They also included Izhar Soomro and Samar Jatoi. Also, they called for a thorough investigation into the instances of Nimrita Kumari and Nosheen Kazmi.

Program for Consultation on Harassment

Many members of civil society are alarmed about the rising number of honour killing, harassment of female students, violence against women, killings in tribal conflicts, and land grabs by powerful individuals. They say government must address immediately these issues.

On Wednesday, civil society activists spoke at a press club in the area as part of a consultative programme.

Professor Mushtaq Mirani, Zulfiqar Halepoto, and Ali Palh urged the government to guarantee that laws protecting girls and women are properly implemented and asked for an independent investigation into occurrences of harassment.

Also, FIA offices at divisional and district levels should be set up to investigate cybercrime.The rule of law in Sindh has been ineffective.

All the way down to the chief secretary, no one was willing to enforce the law in Sindh. As a result, harassment and violence against women, as well as tribal killings and land encroachment by armed gangs, have been escalating.