An unidentified woman was raped in front of her crying children on the motorway this week. She succumbed to the perpetrators to save her bleeding kids.
Post the occurrence of this incident, a wave of rage against the police swept across the whole country. However, as per its tradition, Punjab Police rose to the occasion, and the case was solved within 48 hours—by all standards a laudable high. motorway incidentÂ
Credit goes to the professionally competent SSP investigation Zeeshan Asghar and his team, to IGP Punjab and CCPO Lahore for round the clock supervision, and, of course, to the seasoned team of scientists of Punjab Forensic Science Agency.
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Punjab Police is the bulwark of all police forces in the country
It has not only produced an array of notable police officers but it has also been commanded by a multitude of eminent police leaders. Amongst unified police forces of Pakistan the Punjab Police has a bit self-styled go-getter type culture of dealing with crime which comes under criticism by various quarters at times.
However, this self-styled culture is the reason behind that despite meager resources there are no no-go areas in Punjab, and Punjab was the safe refuge for all displaced citizens during reign of terror and the war against terror. It’s hard to find a comparable example of resilience in any part of the world that Pakistan Police exhibited while facing the brunt of the terror.
Criticism is indication of an active society in a democratic country
However, the nation should never forget that these were the constabulary and officers of Pakistan Police and Punjab Police who stood like a rock guard at every critical juncture in the capacity of ‘Human Shield’.
It should be known to all that there were few dozens, who laid before tanks, there were hundreds, who acted as Kamikaze, but when it came the turn of Pakistan Police, hundred thousand offered their bodies, and not just bodies but the future of their children also for sake of the nation.
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It’s desperately needed that this precious asset of the nation should be looked after properly, and education, health, residence, and fair opportunities should be provided.
Punjab and Lahore Police to came up to the expectations of the nation, just like the Armed Force of Pakistan who came up to expectations of the Pakistani nation by shooting down the jets and pride of the enemy. However, after every crisis there should be a self-analysis and self-introspection exercise covering all angles.
The motorway incident: Not a simple rape case
A high power criminal justice reform commission headed by philosophers of criminology and practitioners of crime management should be constituted immediately, and tasked to suggest and execute strategic reforms in Police on war grounds. Without justice no society can expect to last long.
As an immediate measure, it’s suggested that a centralized ‘Predictive Policing Wing’ should be raised immediately in the Central Police Office. This wing should be equipped with all demographic, economic and crime data.
Read More: Islamabad-based journalist reveals gory details of motorway gang-rape case
Through ‘intelligent matrix’ persons having ‘high risk crime propensity’ should be identified, and after legislative cover, their DNA and Proteins’ signatures should be collected with assistance rendered by Punjab Forensic Science Agency. Instead of running like a blind fellow in dark on reactive mode the Government and Police Leaders should move toward ‘Big Data Based Predictive Policing’. motorway incidentÂ
It’s further suggested that investigation, which is the core job of police, should be separated from Watch & Ward as envisaged in Police Order, 2002, and specialization based investigation should be one of the key priorities of police command and the Government.
Dr. Shakir Ahmad Shahid, Ph.D, P.S.P, is Postdoct Fulbright Alumnus in Forensic Science Justice, who has served in various fields like Policing, Investigation, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism on Policy and Operational levels as a Senior Police Officer and Director (C.T). Dr Shahid holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry with research publications in fields of bio-materials, bio-energy, and forensic spectroscopy.  He can be reached at drsashahid@gmail.com. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.