A girl without wings and a broken heart left this immortal world. The deceased girl, Fatima Farior, a nine-year-old flower, was employed as a domestic maid at the haveli (mansion) of a well-known personality named Pir Asad Shah. This mysterious story has many intervals that shock the nerves, such as how this child was brutally raped and tortured. She faced domestic violence, rape, and more.
The Pir is in jail because Fatima's mother (Shabnam Khatoon) lodged a case under sections 32 (international murder) and 34 (acts done by several people with common intention). To verify the case, an exhumation and postmortem analysis of the body were done. Her father, before this examination, claimed that Fatima died due to a stomach-related illness, but the truth has another story.
Videos where Fatima was crying due to pain went viral. Many social activists raised a hue and cry to turn it into a national issue.
There is a societal gap in which the powerful class has the power to oppress the poor, and the poor are not able to take action because of threats. Is Pakistan safe for women? It does not seem so. We have already the motorway incident where a helpless woman got raped on the Lahore Sialokot motor way.
In 2005, Dr. Khalid, an employee of a state-owned natural gas company, was raped in Sui (Balochistan). There are many others, too. The above-mentioned cases show that from housewife to working woman No one is safe in this country.
What was Fatima's mistake? The only mistake was that she was a poor girl. A girl who was forced to contribute to the family through working. The cost of her work was her life. The heavy cost she paid for only being a poor girl. Domestic violence at an early age affects children psychologically, which means that the pangs of the violence are embedded in their souls. How Fatima bears out this violence and being raped at the same time over the past many years—God knows how many times she had been tormented.
According to the Global Gender Gap Index 2022, Pakistan ranks second to last in terms of the gender gap, with only 56.4% of its gender gap closed. This gap shows that women in Pakistan are not able to breathe in the open air. Right to education, right to have basic amenities... these are all the luxury things in Pakistan.
Girls who have to contribute and become the breadwinner in the family face these kinds of situations, which cost them their lives. Why are these scenarios about the feminine gender? Things are totally different if we can see how women are adjusting in Pakistan. There is a huge wage gap, and companies prefer male employees because they think women need more than men. In this way, they save themselves from maternal leaves. All of this trauma is experienced by a female. A safe place is essential to breeding intellectual genius but females are excluded from this.
Humans are social animals, and animals kill another animal for their own survival, but in this case, we are worse than animals. We give humans pain and murder them just to stain them. The powerful person thought that he had the power to own the soul or body of a poor girl.
Women suffer in many ways, but the way Fatima suffered is beyond the limit. No human deserves domestic violence, rape, or being brutally tortured.
From a gender perspective, the female gender suffers the most due to rape, and on the other hand, society shames a girl with whom this incident occurs. How painful for a girl that she got raped, and now she has to face more. Again, the only mistake is that she is a girl.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan must adhere to some strict laws for people who hold power, but they must know they can be locked under the laws. We can see there are thousands of girls living in shelters. The story of Fatma shows that she is not safe in the mansion. How are girls who are living in slums on the streets safe? This question makes us realise that we are the ones who need to take action and support the right direction.