LAHORE, PAKISTAN — An ambitious initiative by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to safeguard women and children from violence, abuse, and harassment in Punjab has hit a significant roadblock.
Official figures from 2024 reveal an alarming discrepancy in conviction rates: out of a staggering 60,217 registered cases, only 924 suspects faced punishment, while a much higher number of 2,388 were acquitted. Lahore police’s performance in securing convictions has been singled out as particularly poor.
The data starkly shows that acquittals are more than double the convictions, a disparity largely attributed to “gross negligence” by the Punjab police.
Faulty investigations, insufficient evidence, and weak challans (charge sheets) are cited as primary factors contributing to the pathetically low conviction rate in crimes against women and children across the province.
This outcome, experts note, exacerbates the suffering of victims, especially those of rape, whose alleged perpetrators often escape justice.
According to observers, the meager number of convictions suggests that the Punjab police’s senior command may be prioritizing the registration of complaints to appease the Chief Minister.
This approach, they argue, reflects “decades-old tactics” of presenting high crime figures while shifting blame for low conviction rates to the judiciary.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has consistently declared violence against women her “red line,” conveying to Punjab police chief Dr. Usman Anwar her firm resolve to shatter the perception of women as a vulnerable segment of society and emphasizing zero tolerance for negligence in this domain.
An official report from the Punjab police’s Special Sexual Offences Investigation Unit (SSOIU) indicates that the unit investigated 60,217 cases of violence, abuse, and harassment against women and children in 2024.
These incidents primarily involved sexual assault and kidnapping for illicit motives, alongside numerous reported cases of child pornography, cruelty, and sexual abuse across the province. The SSOIU categorizes these heinous crimes into Schedule-I and Schedule-II offenses.
Schedule-I offenses, handled by the specialized unit, include 13 sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and others under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.
Key offenses in this category include child seduction (Section 292A), creation/possession/distribution of child pornography (Section 292B), assault or use of criminal force against a woman intending to outrage her modesty (Section 354), and abduction/kidnapping with unlawful confinement (Section 365). Schedule-II lists 19 types of offenses against women and children, in addition to those under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The report highlights a severe lack of convictions: out of 22,663 Schedule-I cases, not a single accused person received punishment in 30 districts, including Lahore.
In the remaining eight districts, only 555 suspects were convicted from 8,083 cases. Multan police, however, showed a relatively better performance, securing 409 convictions out of 2,150 cases.
Similarly, for Schedule-II offenses, no suspect was convicted in 22,521 registered crimes across 33 districts of Punjab. Only 351 suspects were convicted in 5,443 cases lodged in the remaining six districts.
Lahore police’s performance was deemed “most pathetic” despite its significant resources, manpower, and experienced command. The provincial capital police registered 10,141 cases of violent crime against women and children in 2024, yet 65 suspects were acquitted, and no convictions have been secured to date.
Many other districts, including Rawalpindi, Nankana Sahib, Narowal, Wazirabad, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Murree, Sargodha, Khushab, Bhakkar, Jhang, Chiniot, Lodhran, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Okara, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, and Rahim Yar Khan, also failed to secure any punishments. A majority of these cases are reportedly “still under trial.”
