Sharmila calls for trial of HR cases in ATCs | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Sharmila calls for trial of HR cases in ATCs

LARKANA: Sharmila Farooqi, advisor to the Sindh chief minister and provincial information secretary of PPP women wing, has said that cases of domestic violence against women and child abuse should be tried in anti-terrorist courts and police force should be trained to enable it to deal with such cases.

Talking to journalists here on Wednesday where she had come to meet Hafeezan Bhutto, a victim of forced marriage, Ms Sharmila called for more police reforms and radical change in what she called the prevailing culture at police stations.

She said police officers needed intensive training about handling cases of child abuse and domestic violence because hey could not understand sensitivity of such cases.

“Domestic violence against women could not be brought to an end unless mindset of people is changed because family members of a victim are involved in most of such cases,” she said.

She said that women activists of the Pakistan People’s Party would be motivated to inform police and elected representatives about human right violation cases in their area.

She requested courts to refuse bails to the people arrested in such cases and award deterring punishment to the convicts.

She said that when justice is delayed, people turn to alternative institutions like jirga (private courts held by tribal chiefs or feudal lords) to seek remedy.

She said that recently 28 police officers had been trained under a UNDP-sponsored programme to enable them to deal with cases of human rights violation, and added that the trained officers would train more officers in their places of posting.
Source: Dawn
Date:7/15/2010