#JusticeForZainab: Anger after girl raped and murdered in Pakistan

Zainab was last seen alive on CCTV footage being led away by an unknown man. Her family say Pakistani police were negligent in the little girl's case.

Narrated

2 min read

The New Arab

12 Jan, 2018

Zainab's murder sparked worldwide outrage [Twitter]

Zainab Ansari left her house to attend a Quran study session in Pakistan’s city of Kasur, only to never return. The child's body was found in a dumpster after she was raped and murdered by someone who has not yet been found.

She was last seen alive on CCTV footage on January 4 being led away by an unknown man. Her family say Pakistani police were negligent in Zainab’s case, and it was the relatives of Zainab who tracked the CCTV footage and found her.

Zainab’s father Ameen Ansari complained of the police’s initial apathy when Zainab first went missing.

“My relatives and neighbours told me that the police used to come, eat and leave. They did nothing while my friends and family spent day and night searching for my daughter,” he said.

Ameen was on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca when his daughter went missing.

Thousands took to the streets all over Pakistan to protest Zainab’s murder and used the internet to express their anger with the #JusticeForZainab hashtag.

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How someone could be so cruel to such a young girl was beyond many:

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"I could be a Zainab":

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Condolences were offered to her grieving family:

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One of the main causes of this tragedy, rape culture, was also debated. Many made it clear that it is now time for change:

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