The civil society on Sunday demanded of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice and order the police to register FIR under Section 3 and 4 of the Trafficking in Persons Act 2018 in the Rizwana torture case.
The Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) in collaboration with other civil society organizations continued to mobilize the public for their weekly protest across the country to demand justice for Rizwana, an underage domestic worker who was allegedly brutally abused by her employer, the wife of a civil judge.
Despite the recent arrest of the accused, the SSDO brought to the notice the fact that the Chief Justice of Pakistan still hasn’t taken suo motu notice. We’ve often seen that even if an accused is arrested, no actual conviction is ever made, they are simply just acquitted, said Syed Kausar Abbas, Executive Director SSDO. He said, that is why all of us have gathered on this one platform with the demand to ensure that the ones responsible for this should be held accountable for their actions, and actually punished to the full extent of the law, under the Prevention of Trafficking Act 2018.
Not only is this a textbook example of trafficking, this is a non-bailable offence and according to Section 7 of the act, the court may not consider the consent of victim, parents or guardian’ as a defence of employing children under forced labour. Until then, all of us will keep raising our voices and calling attention to this issue. We protested here last week, and we will do it again next week. We assure you that we will not stop until justice is served.”
The protest was participated by a diverse group of individuals from different backgrounds such as social activists, media, students, legal fraternity, public policy professionals, and common citizens. As per FIR and media reports, the Humak police registered a case on the report of the girl’s father under Sections 506 and 342 of the PPC. The SSDO also put forth their aga which is calling upon the police to register an FIR of trafficking in persons under Section 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2018 (PTPA 2018).
