Its heartbreaking itself as it to open a thread about how to deal with an ultimate inhuman criminal, although it clearly shouldnt be a debate at all. There was another extremely tragic rape that has become the unfortunate headline. Again, why would there be any two opinion on that at all i dont get it. but it is what it is.
From what I know some higher officials in govt and many celebrities actually pointed why the woman was alone etc(talk about blaming the victim) but ofcourse majority still want them to be dealt with iron hand.
Some are suggesting a public hanging. Some other ways.
What is your opinion? How do you see this whole case?
Ever since this news came of the rape..i have been quiet disturbed. All i want to say..is criminals who are convicted of such crime should be castrated and publicly executed.
Regarding the punishment for the rapist once he is caught I want to mention the famous quote "certainty of punishment is a greater deterrent than its severity"
What is tragic about this case is that this rapist was caught for a previous rape in 2013 but was not prosecuted because the victim privately settled.
In response to a violent crime it is the responsibility of the state to perform 2 functions,
1) Provide justice to the victim
2) Protect other citizens from the threat of an unpunished aggressor
There are two different and loosely related thought processes here.
1- The victim did not directly invite the criminals and criminals are 100% responsible on their heinous acts in this matter.
Criminals need to be found and punished at maximum level possible for their inhumane acts of terrorizing the woman and her children.
2- The woman in question did not plan wisely the trip and is still responsible for:
a- Not making sure the trip would be as safe as possible for not herself but for her children.
b- She is not an uneducated or inexperienced woman from a "village". Not naive or fool. But she still failed to see a simple sign of fuel gauge which only takes a second of the time to glance over the gauge to know the fuel was not enough for the trip planned. She had just left the toll plaza the news says.
c- She decided to travel in the middle of night with her children ignoring the fact that there was no need to travel on the road at night no matter what. No amount of emergency in her need to travel can justify her trip at night especially with minors.
d- Essentially she betrayed the trust her children had on her by putting them in this terrible condition which could have easily been avoided by being careful and thoughtful.
e- She suffered emotional trauma. Sure. And it is sad. But what about the children?? They will be living with emotional trauma as well for the rest of their lives going through this traumatic event.
In essence:
Criminals are responsible for their acts and crime. Need to be punished.
Did you even read what I wrote word by word and without emotions or creating false equivalency?
No equivalency in the news you posted and the topic and even in the thread.
Yes, this is about common sense.
But the woman in the event focused in this thread had absolutely no common sense.
Try not to sensationalize the matter like some people are trying or will do.
This is NOT about women or men. Do not twist my comments to being gender bias!!!
If the father of children (a man) had traveled at night without making sure the fuel was not enough he would be equally responsible.
You mentioned driving to airport or coming back after landing or emergency hospital visit.
All three of these scenarios are not related to this thread.
Most of the time the fuel is enough for going to the airport or coming to home from airport. But even if these trips are long then only a stupid man or woman will not check the fuel level or look at the fuel gauge.
Happy with red color??
Any member of parent, father or mother has absolute responsibility to make sure the children’s safety.
This woman failed to do so.
What if she or her children were abducted or killed??? It’s to a large extent relieving that they were not killed.
Victim's carelessness is often involved in other crimes as well like theft, robbery etc.
It cannot be used as an excuse to cover up the incompetence of the authorities.
The authorities had let this motorway un-policed for the last six months.
And, when the victim contacted them for help they were not able to respond in a timely manner.
Lahore CCPO tried to highlight the victim's carelessness to take attention away from the incompetence of his own department
This particular incident has shaken my family as if we missed a bullet. God forbid it could have very well happened with someone in my family. Oftentimes it is only some female family member and her children who are the only ones available to pick me up(or other family) from or drop me off at the airport around 3am or 4am. That is a time when roads are deserted and there is little police even on major roads inside the city. Several years ago, we too ran out of petrol before dawn while going home from the airport and I had to push the car all the way to a petrol pump that was open 24 hrs. Also, I know of many international flights landing in Lahore and then people going by road to their respective nearby cities, all of that happens late at night. What I’m getting at is that different people have different lifestyles, and while a situation may seem completely out-of-ordinary to the general population, it could be completely normal to those who have a similar lifestyle.
It’s not just rapes that have gone up lately, it is also other street crimes that have gone up as well in Punjab from what I’m hearing. Street crimes have gone up in tiny Islamabad as well which used to be very safe. I think government is being very incompetent. Within two years Punjab has had 5 new IGs, dozens of secretaries have been transferred, there was no dedicated highway police for this particular section of motorway for the past 6 months, no police came to rescue for hours, the forensic department was not given funds for the last several months which caused them to have run out of DNA testing kits, my own recent personal experience with customs at Lahore airport has been less than stellar. I found them openly fishing passengers for bribes. I’ve heard some gangs have thrown logs and tree branches on this highway to stop cars to commit crimes. In short, governance seems to be in total mess.
As per the law there is no death penalty in this case. The actual punishment is only a few years of imprisonment if they are found guilty which in most cases doesn't even happen. That's very lenient punishment.
All four groups of individuals should be held responsible for this event.
1- The woman.
2- The criminals.
3- The law enforcement agency
4- The Government.
Why I put the woman as first?
Simple reason. As I mentioned above if she has been careful to begin with, all other three factors would not have become responsible thereafter.
Why I divided Law enforcement agency from Government?
Again simple reason. No matter how much the government does, it is up to the agency employees to carry out their job diligently. Still goes back to the citizens or in this case to the woman.
As @krash mentioned above and I agree, victim's carelessness is often involved in crimes to occur. Yes.
Before the actions of the criminals, law enforcement agencies laziness and government's lack of competence is blamed,.................... individuals/citizens should look at their own irresponsible acts which can potentially invite a crime or accident to occur.
No one should blame medical emergency vehicle "only" for not arriving on time after breaking the red light and getting into an accident.
Is this one example enough or someone needs a whole list of examples??? Hope not.
How should the woman be held responsible? What should be done to her?
When victims are careless they have made a simple error in judgement for which they have already suffered the crime. No further blame or punishment is needed.
Let's not forget that the need for care occurs because the environment is unsafe in the first place because of the failure of govt and law enforcement.
What the woman did was careless in Lahore but perfectly fine in many other places in the world.
Your example of breaking a red light is not valid because that involves actual law breaking that has a punishment.
The criminals are directly responsible for the crime and need to be punished. The govt and law enforcement agencies are responsible for failing to provide a safe environment and should be held accountable.
The woman as I mentioned earlier broke the rule of following the safety measures.
She betrayed the trust of her children being the adult and supposed to be the protector of her children at the highest possible way.
She has no defense against being irresponsible not only for her safety but for her children.
Sorry it’s not a simple error as we witnessed and know. It’s a serious error.
Driving at night, with two minors, not keeping track of fuel level, using relatively deserted or low traffic highway, not being mindful of any potential dangerous scenarios listed BELOW…all are included in her lack of good planning and against using common sense.
The chain of event started from her decision to drive without precautions. No question.
Rest came later. Hence she is the first one to be blamed for this tragic event.
Night time is for sleep. Period. Not really for long drive.
Unless other requirements are satisfactorily met like job requirement, NO ONE should drive at night time on highways.
Take a hotel or stay at relative’s friend’s house and drive in morning.
1-Was she able to change the tire if she need to?
2-Was she able to start the car if it had any mechanical failure in the middle of night?
3-Was she prepared to deal with pot hole of bumps on the road while driving at night?
4-Was she able to clearly see an animal on the road at night? Especially in a country or highway which she clearly is not familiar with?
5- Did she think of possibility of sleeping behind the wheel while driving?
6-Did she think if something happens on the road and the vehicle stopped she would be able to push it off the road? Especially at night?
7- Did she think if she gets attacked by anyone at night she would be able to protect her or her children at night?
Broad day light crimes do occur..
But predators are found everywhere in the world at night.
**Safety first!! ** That is the rule and she broke it.
Coming to my example of red light being broken.
As I said earlier, Not following the safety rule and putting herself and her children in potentially dangerous aspects including 7 potential scenarios, she is still responsible for the event in FIRST place
If you walk in a dark alley at night without preparation, do not blame the law enforcement agency for being robbed. Govt. or law enforcement agency did not make your decision. You did!
If you walk in a jungle at night without safety precaution, do not blame a tiger eating your arm or leg. In this case, rapists were “tigers”.
If you leave your food or candy out in the open then do not blame flies coming on it.
It’s a blessing this idiot woman and her innocent children were not abducted or killed.
Her punishment is to not have the custody of her children anymore…??
Why blame her first?
What comes first is the safety of the environment in which the person is travelling.
Then people take precautions based on the degree of safety they perceive.
Her actions were careless only in the context of the unsafe environment that existed.
Imagine if she had been on the M-2 motorway. She would have called the helpline and would have been promptly provided with petrol. Would not have been in any danger while she waited because there is a strong police presence patrolling that motorway 24hrs.
Like most people, she had no idea that the M-11 motorway was unpoliced.
The govt/LEA were negligent in creating such an unsafe environment close to such a large metropolitan area by leaving it unpoliced for the last 6 months.