I do not watch Pakistani dramas regularly unless someone recommends one to me but I was looking forward to Case No. 9, written by the journalist and anchor, Shahzeb Khanzada. This drama is being aired on Geo Entertainment these days and its 10th episode will be aired tonight. It is about the ordeal of a rape survivor and how our society and system can easily be manipulated to the rapist’s advantage. From its very first episode, the drama was gripping; the way in which even the minutest details were captured by the camera left one spellbound. The two leads, Faysal Quraishi and Saba Qamar, have performed their characters in such a realistic way that one is on edge every time they are on the screen.
The show depicts how families get worried about what others will say, how the word, ‘honour’ (izzat), is misused against the rape survivor, how money can be used to manipulate the system — from getting the best criminal lawyers to influencing law enforcers, among other things. In all of this, the trauma of a rape survivor and what she goes through each day to get justice have been shown in a way that is raw and touching. I am glad someone has written on this topic because rape is a subject that we need to talk about more often, especially in the way in which this drama is doing it by showing both the survivor and the rapist — one is looking for justice and the other is trying to evade it.
At the time of writing this column, news was coming in that a woman has been gang-raped in a posh residential and commercial mall in Islamabad. Rape is not so uncommon in our country. In the report, Mapping Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Pakistan 2024, the Sustainable Social Development Organization highlighted the alarming scale of GBV cases and the extremely low conviction rates. The report says that a total of 32,617 GBV cases were reported countrywide in 2024 which include 5,339 incidents of rape. The SSDO emphasised the urgent need for reforms in the law enforcement and the judicial systems. Many have pointed out how most rape cases go unreported because of societal pressure as well as the lack of trust in our criminal justice system and law enforcement agencies.
In recent months, we have seen a rise in cases of molesters, sexual assaulters and rapists who have ended up shooting themselves in their private parts in the province of Punjab. After this they make a confessional video of how they did it ‘accidentally’ as their pistols were in their pants/shalwars. It is all but obvious that this trend is not ‘accidental’ at all but a shortcut allegedly adopted by the law enforcers. Unfortunately, this trend is being cheered on by the public that has lost trust in our judicial system and think that this is the perfect shortcut to justice for these criminals.
This trend needs to stop and our judicial system needs to be strengthened. We need to see more convictions in the GBV cases so that more survivors come forward and report these crimes. We need to see more such criminals being imprisoned and given strict sentences through the courts rather than by accident. The justice system is not about dispensing swift justice but about dispensing proper punishment after a crime has been proved. Our law enforcement agencies need to do their work properly when it comes to collecting evidence and forensics and, above all, not be influenced by the rich and the powerful.
Our society will change when we realise that there is no honour in remaining silent on such crimes. The dishonour lies with the man who perpetuates a sexual crime, not the survivor. And this is what Case No. 9 is about. We don’t know whether the rape survivor will get justice in the end but we do know that she is not the one at fault. She did not need to hide anything. The odds may be against her but she is the real hero for taking a stand. I hope that this drama plays its part in changing the mindset of our society.
Mehmal Sarfraz is a journalist based in Lahore; mehmal.s@gmail.com