Safe city!

The figures emerging from Islamabad should alarm every citizen and embarrass every institution tasked with protecting the public. In the first five months of this year alone, police registered 432 cases of kidnapping. sexual assault in the federal capital, including 55 cases of sexual violence and 377 cases of kidnapping. Some cases involved gang rape. others the filming of assaults, while at least one kidnapping victim was later found murdered in K-P. These numbers are evidence of a society where predators increasingly believe they can act with impunity.

The most disturbing aspect of these crimes is not only their brutality but their frequency. Islamabad is the seat of the federal government, home to parliament, diplomatic missions. some of the country's most extensive security infrastructure. If hundreds of such cases can occur in the capital within months, what does that say about the situation in smaller cities. rural districts where law enforcement capacity is far weaker? Pakistan has no shortage of laws. Over the years, parliament has introduced stricter punishments for rape and child abuse. Yet the persistence of these crimes exposes weak enforcement coupled with delayed prosecutions and low conviction rates. Criminals are deterred not by the severity of punishment alone but by the certainty of being caught and convicted. Unfortunately, that certainty remains absent.

The state must first strengthen policing. Equally important is fast-tracking sexual violence and kidnapping cases, with courts mandated to conclude trials within fixed timeframes. Witness protection programmes must be properly funded as too many victims withdraw complaints. the system itself becomes another source of trauma. The rising tide of kidnappings and sexual assaults requires an uncompromising national response.

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