Knife attacks and a series of them is a new phenomenon in Karachi where a criminal wants to hurt a woman for no obvious reason or motive. You! takes a look...
crime
Knife attacks and a series of them is a new phenomenon in Karachi where a criminal wants to hurt a woman for no obvious reason or motive. You! takes a look...
A woman was walking down a road in Karachi in broad daylight. Everything was fine except for that niggling fear in her mind of cell phone snatchers on a motorbike - a common thing in the city. So, she was probably ready to give her phone up when a man on a motorbike came near her. There is no point in trying to resist an armed man; something that a majority of pedestrians do when faced with street crime.
Unfortunately, the poor woman was unlucky and this man was not after her phone. He had come to hurt her and she was not ready for what happened next. The man slowed down a little behind her and leaned out slashing her as he passed her.
The next thing she felt was a sharp jab followed by pain and blood. She must have thought that the attacker would take her valuables and fee. But strangely the rider didn’t rob her and had only come to stab her. Luckily, the wound was not fatal and after medical assistance, the terrified woman could go home.
We have seen acid attacks against women, which are generally for personal reasons like failed romance or revenge. Knife attacks and a series of them is a new phenomenon in Karachi where a criminal wants to hurt a stranger for no obvious reason or motive. There is no theft involved or personal vendetta, just a desire to hurt the person i.e. the woman.
A feeling of fear hung over the women residents of Gulistan-e-Jauhar - a greatly populated suburban area of Karachi. Women pedestrians in Pakistan are already vulnerable to a multitude of abuse - like catcalls, touching etc. and add the street crimes to this, which is why many are usually quite aware of their surroundings. And hence are more vigilant than others. But the addition of this kind of attack is a serious issue.
Initially the criminal seemed to be restricted to a certain parameter and was attacking women in a small area of Gulistan-e-Jauhar. During the first phase, he attacked several women in a few days and then there was silence. After a short span of time, the attacks began again and despite police claims, he escaped easily - giving him a feeling of being powerful. And so, in the second phase, he spread out a little and there were some reports of attacks in Gulshan-e-Iqbal which is only a couple of kilometres away from the initial area.
The attacks began on September 25, 2017 and within days of the first one, eight women had been stabbed. However, by the end of the first week of October the number of victims had risen to 15, between the ages of 12-35 years.
This boldness by the knife attacker is interesting because at this point the police was alert and looking for him and he had more chances of being caught. Or maybe he knew that the police would not look elsewhere and he had an open field just outside the previous attack sites. The police was unable to get any trace of the assailant. Inspector General (IG) of Police Sindh AD Khawaja tried to allay fears by reassuring people that the police were taking serious steps to tackle this problem and said that the culprit would be apprehended sooner than later.
The IG then went on to explain what the police force had planned in order to capture the criminal and revealed some of the most important measures that could have resulted in a quick arrest. One such measure that he revealed to the media (and which would have worked if not revealed) was that police officials in plain clothes - both men and women - had been deployed on various streets and roads inside the parameter of the attacks. The women police force would be used to lure the attacker and then he would be arrested.
This was a smart plan - too bad it became public knowledge via media before it was implemented and gave any results. And on top of this, Chief Minister (CM) Sindh told the media that serial slashers are common in Pakistan. He related a story of a man named Waseem, who was carrying out similar knife attacks in Chichawatni, Punjab, in which he had injured dozens of women in 2015-16.So, did this mean that he would follow the same path and continue his attacks unabated in Karachi as well?
The man had disappeared from his home in Chichawatni five months ago and no one knew where he was. The police in Karachi claim that they have Waseem in custody. However, the police had arrested many suspects earlier but the attacks had continued.
The Chief Minister should have refrained from giving such a statement. With somewhat political chaos in Sindh, there is already a lot of frustration among the people and it is not good to add fear to this. According to a recent survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Karachi has become the second most dangerous city for women in the world.
As far as the criminal is concerned, we know that this man attacks women with a knife but he does not want to kill them. All the victims received deep but non-fatal wounds which were treatable. It seems the injuries were more psychological than physical - probably what the attacker wanted.
Serial crimes - especially serial killings - are a rare phenomenon in Pakistan. The few that have been reported in the media include: The Hathora (Hammer) Group that went around killing homeless in Lahore in the 1980s; Javed Iqbal, the man who killed at least 100 boys in Lahore in 1999; lesser known Amir Qayyum, aka the ‘Brick Killer’ murdered 14 homeless men in Lahore in May 2006.
And then there was a case of a rickshaw driver who murdered women passengers in Karachi, but there was no follow up of this case with actual figures. According to some experts, people who suddenly get up one day and begin attacking others are usually suffering from some mental issue. In a country like Pakistan where mental health is a low priority it wouldn’t be surprising if any behavioural disorders or changes, that the knife attacker went through, went unnoticed by family and friends.
But it would help if families could observe any sudden changes in a person’s behaviour and try to find out the reason for this and how such people can be helped. People who use knives instead of guns may want to inflict more harm to the victim. There have been several cases of knife attacks around the world, despite the availability of other more sophisticated weapons. The choice of weapon always reveals a lot about the person. The knife attacks allow the criminal to get physically closer to the victim as compared to someone using a gun. Some experts believe that a knife attack is a more personal and provocative experience and could also reveal ‘rage or paranoia’ in the attacker.
Coming to the type of wound that is inflicted; in this case, the wounds are deep slashes but are non-fatal. Why would a criminal take all the trouble of riding up to a victim in broad daylight to only slash women without causing severe damage?
If Waseem is the knife attacker, the investigators will look into the matter, why is this man Waseem going around slashing women and giving them non-fatal wounds? Why didn’t he just use a gun? Why attack only women? What happened in his life that his slashing spree began after four years of silence and after being arrested in 2013?
It would be helpful if his psychological profile and background, as well as what triggered the crime and the symptoms leading up to them are also made public. Maybe this information will help us understand and maybe prevent further crimes. The media could help teach people about mental issues and spread awareness about not only the different mental disorders but their symptoms as well.
