PM must have mentioned Pappu rape case punishment during Zia era: Ch Shujaat

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Monday said Prime Minister Imran Khan should have mentioned Pappu rape case during Ziaul Haq times, when the culprit was sentenced and publicly hanged at Chauburji Chowk Lahore.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he said the punishment served as a deterrent for many years.“This is solution to the problem in such cases,” he added.The former premier said PM Imran Khan advocated strict laws against those committing child abuses. A joint session of the parliaments should be called within a week and harsher laws should be enacted committing such crimes, the senior politician suggested.

Ch Shujaat recalled that during his office as the interior minister, a human rights delegation came to meet him and criticised the country’s laws relating to human rights. There was a young girl who was a member of the delegation. “I told her that it was painful for me to ask her such a question. But, for making her realise the intensity of the crime, I asked her if her younger sister was raped and murdered in front of her, how would she feel?

“Would you still like to advocate condemnation of our punishments for the rape culprits,” I asked her. She was stunned and remained silent throughout the meeting. She did not argue any further against our laws, recalled Ch Shujaat.