LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Punjab organiser Chaudhry Sarwar says the PML-N government has failed to control rape and kidnap cases, claiming that Pakistan is among the 10 worst countries when it comes to rape cases.

He issued a “fact sheet” on Monday on the rape and kidnap incidents, stating 14,850 kidnap cases involving women, children and girls were reported in Punjab during the last one year. He said some 2,000 women were kidnapped and 80pc of them were allegedly raped during last year while 15pc were killed. He said 980 minors were kidnapped, including the newborns from hospitals.

Stating that the incidents of kidnap and rape of women and children were continuously rising, Mr Sarwar observed the Punjab government had failed to protect the lives and property of the masses.

The fact sheet said some 96 kidnap for ransom cases, including 25 of minors, were registered. In Lahore, the fact sheet said, 15 cases of kidnap for ransom were reported and many of those kidnapped were also killed.

On the other hand, the fact sheet said police’s performance remained unimpressive as they failed to solve hundreds of cases and many of the kidnapped persons were never recovered as some 3,100 cases were still under investigation.

Says 14,850 kidnap cases reported in Punjab in a year

Chaudhry Sarwar said police were only registering missing reports instead of kidnappings to save their skin.

The fact sheet said that the cases of molestation against children were also increasing while the police and other institutions were unable to check such incidents. He demanded that the government introduce legislation to check such cases and give exemplary punishment to the criminals.

YASMIN RAASHID: PTI chairman’s adviser Dr Yasmin Raashid says finally the name of Sharif brothers’ closest crony Saifur Rehman has surfaced in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) corruption.

In order to reward Saifur Rehman, she alleged, the government had declared financial close worth $1.9 billion of 1,320MW coal-based power project without completing prerequisites. She said now the PML-N government could not boast of transparency in the CPEC.

Ms Raashid said Saifur Rehman had suddenly risen back from political oblivion into making lucrative deals whether it was the LNG deal with Qatar or CPEC projects. Shamelessly, she said, the Sharifs were denying role of Rehman in any government deal with foreign investors while he was photographed with government officials in every key meeting.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2016