KARACHI: After the police failed to trace and apprehend the suspect(s) involved in a spree of knife attacks against women in the city, a few women in Karachi have taken precautionary measures by carrying knives.

“I am not afraid of the knife man and will kill him if he tries to stab me,” threatened N*, a middle-aged woman in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, while brandishing the knife she had hidden in her handbag. “Please don’t be scared,” she told the women of Karachi. “If [you show fear] the attacker will become more confident. I have this knife because women are not lesser mortals and they can challenge their attackers,” she said.

Another woman in Gulshan-e- Iqbal who works at a garment factory told the media that her husband handed her a knife and told her to challenge the attacker if she ever encounters him.

“I am not afraid of a cowardly man who attacks women just to get publicity,” she said.

Serial attacker: Karachi police increase reward money by Rs0.5m

Twelve-year-old M* is a school student and said apart from books and pens, she carries a knife in her bag. “My mother asked me to keep it with me as a precautionary measure,” she said. “I don’t know exactly what I have to do it though. Whether I am able to retaliate or not is irrelevant. I can at least show it to the attacker to scare him,” she said.

So far at least 13 women have been injured in several incidents in parts of District East – Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Dalmia, Rashid Minhas Road, Pehlwan Goth and PIB Colony – since the incidents began on September 25. The police have also issued the suspect’s picture with brief details about his appearance multiple times, seeking help from the citizens to capture him. They have also announced a reward of Rs1 million for anyone who helps the police trace and arrest the attacker.

Though the police have not been successful in apprehending the main suspect, Karachi police chief Mushtaq Mahar has formed teams comprising police personnel to hunt the attacker or attackers.

Police said that while 13 incidents have occurred, only 10 cases have been registered.
“There is a heavy deployment of uniformed and plainclothes officers in the entire neighbourhood,” said District East SSP Samiullah Soomro. “Our effective actions forced him [the attacker] to stop his criminal activities,” he claimed, adding that the police have enhanced their intelligence network based on plainclothes personnel and informers to trace and arrest the suspect.

Helmets barred at KU for protection of female students

“So far we believe that only one suspect is behind the series of attacks and is frequently changing his getup in order to dodge the police,” explained SSP Soomro. “The main reason why we have failed to arrest him so far is that none of the victims saw his face because he always wore a helmet. Lack of closed-circuit television camera footage also contributed to this, as the attacker chose the darkest areas to stab women in.”

On Friday a married woman was injured in a mysterious incident in District Central, with many claiming she was the attacker’s 14th victim. The woman, 49, is a resident of Kauser Niazi Colony and was brought to a private hospital after she was injured.

The incident occurred in North Nazimabad Block-F, near alFateh Park within the limits of Hyderi police station. Initially, it was reported that the woman was a victim of knife attacker, however, later the police denied the news, stating that the woman was injured in a road mishap after being hit by a speeding motorcycle.

But the case took a u-turn after the medical report suggested that while the woman did not bear knife injuries, she also had no injuries consistent with a vehicular accident. North Nazimabad DSP Naeem Khan said that the police are investigating and trying to ascertain the actual nature of the incident, adding that they will record the woman’s statement again and look for CCTV footage.

*Names withheld to protect privacy

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KARACHI: The Hindu community in Sindh heaved a sigh of relief when the Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Hindus Marriage Act, 2016 in April of 2016, hoping that things would change for the better. But this law, the first of its kind in Pakistan, has met a fate similar to a host of other important bills – it is gathering dust. For the past year and a half, no rules have been made for the law and without it there is no mechanism for the Hindu community to register their marriages.

The bill states that marriages will only be solemnised for persons aged 18 and above and at least two witnesses need to be present for registration of the marriage certificate by the union councils, wards or other municipal authorities concerned. “All legal formalities for the certificate will be initiated within 45 days of the solemnisation,” the law states.

Jai Parkash, a member of the National Lobbying Delegation for Minorities, told The Express Tribune that they have been pushing the law minister and other officials in the Sindh government for the implementation of the law but all they get in return are lame excuses.

Hindu community celebrates Karva Chauth

“Even though the law is not comprehensive – it only provides for right of marriage certification with no provisions for separation, divorce or dissolution of marriages – we desperately wait for its implementation,” he said.

According to Parkash, they have drafted a new law and handed it over to Law Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar but nothing has been done yet. “The National Assembly passed a law covering all aspects [of Hindu marriage], so we want to replicate the same law in Sindh,” he explained.

No effort has been made by the government to expedite the process, frame rules or implement the rules for the law since it was passed.

Pakistan Muslim League – Functional parliamentary leader Nand Kumar pointed towards the Sindh Assembly standing committee on minorities, which is supposed to take up minority laws and bring amendments in them. “For the last two years there has been no chairperson of the committee. The position is vacant since Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Poonjo Mal Bhel joined the Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP],” he lamented. “How can one expect tangible results when it comes to minorities’ issues and legislation [in such circumstances]?” he questioned, adding that he had moved a bill against forced conversion, which was unanimously passed but the fate of the bill still hangs in the balance as the government has not given its assent on it.

When a marriage end: Bridal gifts, dowry become legal nightmare for litigant

“The bill is still pending in the assembly secretariat. The same thing happened to the minorities’ rights commission bill passed in November, 2016,” said Kumar. He added that it was under the leadership of former PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto that the party advocated for the rights of minorities. The incumbent leadership is interested in other issues, he lamented.

Lanjar, however, said that the credit goes to the PPP-led government for always raising their voice for minorities, who are considered ‘lesser mortals’ in Pakistan. “We give them equal rights and consider them equal citizens,” he said proudly, adding that it was the PPP government that passed the Hindu marriage law because, since the creation of Pakistan, the Hindu community had been deprived of this right. “The rules are under process and will be drafted soon,” he said.

When asked about the lack of provisions for divorce in the law, he said, “There is always an option to make amendments to the Act and we will do it in consultation with our Hindus brothers.”

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TORONTO: A kidnapped US-Canadian couple freed in Pakistan this week, nearly five years after being abducted in neighboring Afghanistan, has returned to Canada, the Canadian government said on Friday.

American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, which the United States has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight. They had three children while in captivity. “Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones,” the Canadian government said in a statement.

Will couple rescue mark a new beginning in ties with US?

The family traveled from Pakistan to London and then to Toronto, where they arrived late on Friday, Canadian broadcaster CTV News tweet said. The final leg of their journey was an Air Canada flight Friday from London to Toronto. Boyle provided a written statement to the Associated Press on the plane saying his family had “unparalleled resilience and determination.” AP also reported that Coleman wore a tan-colored headscarf and sat with the two older children in the business class cabin.

Boyle sat with their youngest child on his lap. US State Department officials were on the plane with them, AP added. One of the children was in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers, Boyle told AP. Reuters could not independently confirm the details. They are expected to travel to Boyle’s family home in Smiths Falls, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Ottawa, to be reunited with his parents. Canada has been actively engaged with Boyle’s case at all levels and will continue to support the family, the government added.

“At this time, we ask that the privacy of Mr Boyle’s family be respected,” it said. Media reported that Boyle’s parents, Patrick and Linda Boyle, had acquired car-seats to help bring home the three grandchildren they have never met. The journey home was complicated by Boyle’s refusal to board a US military aircraft in Pakistan, according to two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Boyle instead asked to be flown to Canada. Boyle had once been married to the sister of an inmate at the US military detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

President Donald Trump thanks Pakistan for ‘doing more’

The marriage ended and the inmate was later released to Canada. The families of the captives have been asked repeatedly why Boyle and Coleman, who was pregnant at the time, had been backpacking in such a dangerous region. Boyle’s family spent five years fighting to keep the case in the media spotlight in Canada, sharing the few “proof of life” videos or letters they received over the years. In 2016, a video released by an affiliate of the Afghan Taliban and later posted to YouTube showed for the first time the two sons of Boyle and Coleman. In the video, Coleman begs for an end to their “Kafkaesque nightmare” and is critical of both the American and Canadian governments and the family’s Haqqani captors.

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BAHAWALPUR: In a tragic incident, a student of Islamia University Bahawalpur died while two others suffered injuries in a road accident on Friday.

A police official told The Express Tribune that Asif, Imran and Sikandar Ali, students of Islamia University, were riding a motorcycle when they tried to overtake a rickshaw at Hussaini Chowk.

Head-on collision: Road crash claims 15 lives in Mastung

However, the rickshaw hit them and they fell on the road, he added. In the meantime, a bus of Islamia University, coming from Baghdad ul Jadeed Campus, crushed to death Sikandar Ali while Asif and Imran were injured.

Eyewitness Usama, a student of Technology College, said he was standing on the spot when a rickshaw hit the motorcycle. “All three riders fell on the ground and an Islamia University bus ran over Sikandar Ali,” he added.

Bus-Truck Collision: Two killed, 11 injured in accident 

When contacted, SHO Farhan Hussain said the driver of the bus identified as Sajid Shah fled the scene after the incident. He added the accused driver will be arrested soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2017.

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BAHAWALPUR: Bahawalpur will get 50 motorcycle ambulances out of 900 being provided to Rescue 1122 Emergency Service in nine divisional headquarters of Punjab province.

This was disclosed by Aasif Channar, the divisional emergency officer of Rescue 1122. He said that Rescue 1122 was going to provide 900 motorcycle ambulances to nine divisional headquarters of the province.

200 motorcycle ambulances join Rescue 1122 fleet

He added that motorcycle ambulances were being provided to all divisional headquarters, including Bahawalpur, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Sargodha and other districts. The official maintained that motorcycle ambulances will help rescue personnel to deal with emergency and to transport a patient to hospital in traffic jam situations.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2017.

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