Over 500 women and girls were subjected to sexual assault in the Pakistan city of Karachi alone in 2022, reported The Dawn.
The figures were compiled with the help of records of medico-legal officers posted at three major Karachi hospitals, the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) and Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).
There has been a considerable increase in the number of rape and murder cases in Karachi, considered to the most populous in the country. Incidents of shooting have also increased, according to data maintained by Karachi's Police Surgeon Office.
"Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that in 2022, 513 women were sexually assaulted while 3,649 women became victims of domestic violence. They were brought to the hospitals for medical examination," reported The Dawn.
The Dawn report also quoted lawyer and rights activist Maliha Zia Lari commenting on the official figure of sexual assault cases. According to Lari, the actual number of cases might be higher than those reported.
"The good thing is that under relevant anti-rape law, so far, 27 gender-based violence courts have been established in Sindh," she said.
Lari said that a recent survey conducted by her organisation, the Legal Aid Society, shows that the conviction ratio of the gender-based violence courts was over 11 per cent. Only 14 per cent of Sindh residents were 'satisfied' by the court's performance.
"We see that the response is improving but there is a need to focus on prevention," she said.
Recently, it was reported that women in Pakistan's Sindh province continue to remain unsafe, with several being abducted. And, in the latest incident, a 15-year-old girl was kidnapped from the Allahabad police station area of Larkana city.
According to Pakistan's vernacular media, Saima Makrani Baloch, a 15-year-old young girl, was allegedly abducted from the Allahabad police station area in Sindh's Larkana city.
It is alleged that Sindh province is especially not safe for Hindu women. In October, two cases of kidnappings of Hindu women came to light. One of them was a 10-year-old girl.
As per media reports, one of the incidents took place in the Shaikh Bhirkio area of Sindh where Meena Bajani, the 10-year-old, was kidnapped.
In a separate incident from Sindh, a married Hindu woman name Shanti Meghwar was abducted by four armed men, Manzoor Sheikh, Sultan Sheikh, Gab Sheikh and Javed, from her home in Sindh's Tando Muhammad Khan district on October 24, as per local media reports.
Women in Karachi are afraid of utilizing the city's transport options due to a spike in incidents of molestation in cabs, and rickshaws.
Describing the grim situation of Karachi regarding transport, a woman, Hira said, "I get free from work at around 9.30 pm and all the buses and minibuses available in the afternoon are long gone by that time," reported The Express Tribune.
( With inputs from ANI )
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