Protecting Children in Pakistan: Law Against Abuse

Text by: RFI Follow

In Pakistan, a new law has been passed against child abuse. Her name, Zainab Law, named after a 7-year-old girl raped and killed in 2018 and whose story had aroused the indignation and anger of the population. This law is a first in the country where more than 10 children are victims of sexual abuse every day.

Publicity

with our correspondent in Islamabad, Sonia Ghezali

Life imprisonment for rapists and killers of children is what the Zainab law provides for. In Pakistan, cases of pedophilia regularly come to light in the media.

But the death of Zainab Ansari two years ago sparked popular protests. Authorities singled out for neglect after 7-year-old girl's body was discovered in a dumpster in January 2018 in an eastern district of the country where several missing children were reported without the local authorities getting upset.

The investigation which will finally be opened will allow the arrest of his murderer, a serial killer pedophile. Three years earlier, in the same district, a vast pedophile network had been exposed with hundreds of child victims of sexual abuse.

With the Zainab law, the police must initiate an investigation within two hours of the report of the disappearance of a child by his parents. Alerts to the population must be issued for missing children, and a hotline is also set up to assist the work of investigators.

► Also read : Riots after the rape and murder of little Zainab

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• Pakistan
• Rights of the child

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