BAHAWALPUR: A 13-year-old girl, who was allegedly abducted from Qasim Bela, Multan, and was raped for many days by a man, returned home after managing to escape from her abductor. The girl’s parents told the media in Multan on June 20 that their daughter ‘F’ was allegedly abducted by ‘S’. They alleged that the suspect, a friend of the girl’s father, drugged ‘F’ and took her to Chichawatni, where he detained her and sexually
Child Rights in Focus
“I expect my children will have a better life than I had, but they will also have to work much harder.” Such is the view of Junaid, an executive at a pharmaceutical company, and an interviewee in our research on parental expectations. Upon further probing, Junaid said, “I have more wealth and luxuries than my parents had but I also work far more, have greater stress and every few years worry about losing my
SWABI: Complaints pouring in from different circles have forced the officials of the district administration to take action against schools who failed to comply with the provincial government’s order of summer holidays. The provincial education department has closed both public and private sector schools for summer holidays on June 15, but various private schools have violated the orders and kept open their institutions. To ensure implementation of government orders regarding summer vacations, additional Assistant
SAHIWAL: Police have registered a case against three suspects and arrested two of them for allegedly molesting and blackmailing a 15-year-old ninth-grade student through a mobile phone video in the official quarters of the irrigation department in Neeli Bar Canal Colony. Reports said ‘S’ of Sarwar Shaheed Road, Civil Lines, had been subjected to sexual assault and blackmailed by three suspects ‘A’, ‘R’ and ‘Az’ for the past one year. The Civil Lines police
ISLAMABAD: Three Pakistani schools have been named among the Top 10 finalists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2025. The prizes, launched by T4 Education in 2022 following the COVID-19 pandemic, aim to highlight innovative practices in schools that are transforming lives both inside and outside the classroom, according to a statement. Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School, a charity-run primary and secondary school in Glaxo Town, Feroz Pur Road, Lahore, has
Three underage Hindu girls who had mysteriously gone missing from Shahdadpur recently have been recovered from Karachi. Officials said on Thursday that Dr Lal Chand Ukrani, special assistant to the chief minister of Sindh on minority affairs, had taken serious notice of the incident and directed law enforcement agencies to ensure immediate recovery of the girls — Sheena, Jiya, and Diya. Upon receiving reports of the disappearance of the girls, Dr Ukrani had contacted
Hyderabad: The Sindh Textbook Board (STBB) reviewed committee has emphasised the inclusion of critical thinking, creativity and tolerance in school curricula. Officials said on 18-June-2025 that on the directives of Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah, the first meeting of the curriculum review committee formed by the Sindh Textbook Board was held to evaluate educational textbooks. During the session, education experts, scholars, and writers stressed the importance of including lessons in school
Islamabad. In view of the increasing trend of child marriage and its serious consequences, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), along with women’s rights organisations, has launched a comprehensive campaign across the country calling for a ban on marriage before the age of 18. Addressing a press conference, NCSW Chairperson Ume Laila Azhar applauded the ICT Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025. She said that after Sindh, it is a welcome move
DADU: A six-year-old girl was reportedly subjected to sexual assault by two suspects and then dumped into a pit in unconscious condition in Markhpur locality here on 17th June. Police sources said the victim, daughter of a labourer, was reportedly lured away by the suspects to the pit in a desolate area where they subjected her to assault and fled, leaving the child badly injured and unconscious. The victim’s relatives, who were out searching
SUKKUR: Over 500 women coming from different walks of life attended a gathering in the Sachal Academy Auditorium, Khairpur, on 16th June and vowed to work for safeguarding children’s rights. They belonged to 20 UCs of Khairpur district and travelled to the venue for, what was described as the “grand district-level advocacy event”, mainly focused on ending early and forced marriages in Sindh. The event was organised by a coalition of local civil society
Punjab unveils Rs5,335b surplus budget; Federal transfers estimated at Rs4,062.2b LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman on Monday presented a Rs5,335 billion surplus budget for financial year 2025-26 in the provincial assembly amid strong protest by the opposition. In the next fiscal year, the government estimated Rs4,062.2 billion federal transfers from the Federal Divisible Pool, while Rs828.2 billion would be generated from the province’s own resources under the head of provincial revenue.
In Pakistan, we have witnessed several episodes of violence, harassment, repression and even murder of several women across the various layers of our economic strata. From the affluent Noor Mukaddam to the totally unknown little Zainab, we have seen countless girls and women of all age groups suffer at the hands of the most brutal and violent men. The nation weeps, talks about it everywhere, condemns it too – but then forgets about it