Cynthia’s Case Calls into Question Rape Victims In Pakistan

The scrimmage between former Interior Minister Rehman Malik and American blogger Cynthia Ritchie has been capsized with the acceptance of Cynthia’s request by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to withdraw the petition pertaining to rape case against the senator.

Earlier, in the preceding year, the American blogger Cynthia accused Rehman Malik of giving her a toxic drink and raping her at his official residence back in 2011.

However, the petition has been dismissed by the high court on the request of the petitioner herself and has surged a debate in Pakistan in regards to the rape “victims and convicts”.

Cynthia Ritchie is a 44-year-old American freelance director, producer, writer, and blogger who is currently working on an International travel series.

Cynthia has been residing in Pakistan for nearly a decade now with multiple controversies related to her connections with the military and politics.

Ritchie’s withdrawal from the case has commenced a debate in Pakistan and raised a question that if an empowered woman like Cynthia can pull out her rape case from the court, what will be the future of rape cases of the marginalized woman in Pakistan?

With the rampant rape cases in Pakistani society, it has been very crucial to understand the trauma and misery of rape victims.

News360 discussed mental issues rape victims could encounter with the clinical psychologist Muntaha Zia.

“It is very difficult for the victim to be vocal about the incident that happened to them as they are usually unaware where to report the case”, Zia maintained.

Usually, in these cases, nobody wants to stand with victims and even if the family accepts them, society makes it difficult for them to survive like a normal being.

She expressed that resulting trauma following the mishap generates the feelings among the victims that they don’t belong to this world anymore and in most cases, they isolate themselves.

“It has been our responsibility as a human and community member to make them feel normal and to provide them whatever support they need”.

As a matter of fact, most of the rape cases in Pakistan remain unheard of due to societal and family pressures. The victims choose to remain in the veil and don’t prefer to fight their cases.

As per the official figures, at least 11 rape cases are reported daily in Pakistan. However, it has been estimated that around half of the cases go unreported.

Read Also

KP Passes Long-Awaited Domestic Violence Bill

In a patriarchal society like Pakistan, it has been very difficult for women especially the marginalized ones to raise their voices against the abuse.

The outcome of the rape case involving Cynthia Ritchie and Rehman Malik that surfaced the preceding year has raised multiple questions for all those who have suffered the same trauma and are trying to cope up with their fate.