By: Neha Ahmed
(Student, Department of Mass Communication, University of Karachi)
KARACHI: The Zainab Alert Bill jurisdiction has been extended to the entire country.
According to details on Friday 10th of January, 2020 Parliament had passed the Zainab Alert Response and Recovery Act, 2020. But the Act applied to only Pakistan’s capital city Islamabad. Now its jurisdiction has been extended to the entire country.
The bill proposes the maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1 million while the minimum sentence of 10 years and in some cases death penalty.
A helpline, 1099, will be set up to report and forward all the cases to ZARRA and to spread information about missing children.
The bill also proposes taking action against police officials who cause unnecessary delay in investigating such cases, adding that those who fail to respond to the alert within two hours may also face action.
It is imperative that we collectively safeguard our future generations nationwide, girls and boys both, against physical abuse, sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
The people and Government should mobilize to raise awareness among the parents of both urban and rural areas.
Adopting the Zainab Alert Bill is another leap in our mission of providing our children with the safest environment.
A relevant piece published earlier:
Zainab’s killer hanged to death
17th of October, 2018
LAHORE: Imran Ali, the convicted of molesting and murdering seven-year-old Zainab Amin of Kasur City, was hanged to death at Central Jail Kot Lakhpat in Lahore early this morning.
An Anti-Terrorism Court Judge, Sajjad Ahmad on Friday had issued black warrants for Imran Ali. An Anti-Terrorism Court on February 2, had awarded death sentence to Imran Ali, on the charges of kidnapping, rape and brutal murder of Zainab Amin of Kasur after completing the trial in a record seven days time.
He was executed in the presence of Magistrate Adil Sarwar and the Zainab’s father, Muhammad Amin Ansari. Talking to media on the occasion, the father of Zainab, Muhammad Amin said that such kind of criminals should be hanged publicly for giving a lesson to all such evil minds.
Later, the dead body of Imran Ali was handed over to his heirs after completing formal legal proceeding.
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