Sometimes a story comes to light that makes you look at the world differently, bare and exposed for what it has become. There are those among us who sit behind their fancy TVs and sitcoms and rarely ever pay attention to the real world, and then there are those who are out there standing next to families like the one of Zainab’s to strive for the justice that she has been denied.

Who Was Zainab?

Zainab Amin was only 6-years old. On January 4th, she was kidnapped from her neighborhood. The perpetrator who kidnapped her didn’t only proceed to rape her, he murdered Zainab and then dumped her body amidst trash on January 9th.

While we all celebrated the first week of a new year in Pakistan, a family mourned their young one. What she should have been doing was playing outside with kids her own age, but where she ended up, no child or human should ever have to go through.

Spike in Rape Cases in Kasur District of Punjab

Child sexual abuse in Pakistan is worse than it ever was, especially in the Kasur District of Punjab between 2006 and 2014. The heartbreaking but unsurprising fact then and now is, that the authorities have failed to take action.

Developments in the Zainab Murder Case

It has been two weeks since Zainab’s body was discovered and yet the lawmakers stand frozen. The police department of Kasur has arrested over 15 suspects in the case and conducted a little over 449 DNA tests that have proven to be inconclusive so far. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has expressed a deep dissatisfaction over the lack of progress in this case.

“He Should Be Publicly Executed!”

When footage surfaced showing the perpetrator holding Zainab’s hand and kidnapping her, the people of the nation cried out in pain and demanded only one thing: a public execution. This reaction was sparked by recent news that developed in Iran, where a man was publicly hanged for raping a girl around the same age as Zainab.

Here is what the people of Pakistan had to say about the Zainab murder case.

“Even though I’m in favor of a public execution of the culprit, I do believe that the parents are to blame, however partially, for the entire incident. As parents, it’s our first and foremost duty to do everything in our power to not expose our children to this monstrosity. Leaving your seven-year-old with inadequate guardians counts as a failure. How many Zainabs must we sacrifice before we learn to be and do better?” – Faryal Khan, writer based in Karachi “I believe the person should be publicly executed for this. Blaming the parents is one thing, but we can’t say that it’s only their fault.” – Umema Kanwel, English Literature student from Karachi University “There are few incidents that shake you to the very core, especially we Pakistanis have somehow become immune to bad news. It’s life as usual to us. But the Kasur incident was terrifying, heartbreaking, and agonizing beyond words. It has reminded us of how unsafe we are, of our moral degradation as a nation, and of how low humanity can go.” – Hasnain Rizvi, Dentist at Aesthetic Dental Clinic based in Karachi “A matter that woke the entire country. But those who hold the power to make the right decisions that could bring justice to Zainab fail to do so. We shouldn’t be this woke only when something happens. We know such horrific incidents happen all over the country. Vile men out there who are talking away the life of another Zainab need to be taught a lesson.” – Soha Naveed, Social Media Influencer from Lahore

It is Unacceptable!

People who do such a thing to an innocent child surely deserve no mercy from those who hold authority over them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that a public execution is the answer to every problem. What we should be focusing on is how the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are failing at closing a case which has included video footage of the rapist and murderer.

It is not okay. Doing this to a human is not okay, let alone an innocent child. We can’t deny that the world we live in is dark and the people in it may be even darker. What we do need to do is protect our young ones with all our might and strive to make sure that no monster capable of harming a child ever roams the streets of the earth free again. Only then, justice will truly be served.

Yesterday it was Zainab, today it could be your child.