October 29, 2025
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
In a gruesome incident that occurred in Islamabad on the second day of Eid, a young woman Sania Bibi was set on fire by her father in law and husband using the petrol from the motorbike at home. Sania Bibi, the mother of a year old child, was screaming and crying for over an hour after which they eventually put out the fire and took her to PIMS hospital, threatening her on the way not to report them to the doctors otherwise they would take away the custody of her son. Sania however managed to record a statement under Section 164 CrPC, but after fighting for her life in the hospital, she died after a month. The two accused were arrested, but the case lies in court, and not one of them have been convicted till now, even though the bail application of the main accused the father in law, was rejected by the court.
Out of the 50 reported cases of domestic violence between January and June 2025, not one has resulted in conviction or acquittal, pointing to serious shortcomings in institutional response mechanisms to protect women and ensure justice.
The data, obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) from the police department, categorizes reported cases into physical, sexual, psychological, and financial abuse. The findings highlight that physical abuse remains the most prevalent, accounting for 76% of all reported cases (38 out of 50). Of these, 13 cases are still under investigation, while 24 have reached the trial stage. Sexual abuse constitutes 14% (7 cases), financial abuse 8% (4 cases), and psychological abuse 2% (1 case).
These statistics were released by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) in its Islamabad Domestic Violence Factsheet, revealing alarming gaps in the capital city’s justice system when addressing cases of domestic abuse.
These figures however only represent those cases that have been reported. There are estimated to be numerous incidents that may have gone unreported due to social taboos, stigma, and fear of retaliation.
Meanwhile, despite many of these cases advancing to the trial phase, no convictions or case closures have been recorded, reflecting persistent obstacles in investigation, prosecution, and survivor support. While mechanisms for reporting exist, justice delivery remains slow, uncertain, and inaccessible for many survivors.
Syed Kausar Abbas, Executive Director of SSDO, told Voicepk, that the data was acquired from the ICT police using the Federal Right to Information Act (RTI) 2017.
“It took us nearly four months to obtain the data, although the law mandates proactive disclosure of such information by police and public institutions,” he said. “Reporting a case is just the first step; what follows must be a transparent, timely, and survivor-centric process of justice process.” Abbas said that the absence of convictions highlights the urgent need for stronger institutional mechanisms, trained investigators, and dedicated support services for survivors. Cases involving women and children should be time-bound and resolved within 90 to 100 days through a speedy trial.”
Part of the reason of a low conviction rate also lies with the women themselves, says Advocate of the high courts (AHC) Shiza Qurashi. “Even after being beaten black and blue women compromise,” she said speaking to Voicepk. “The first thing is the FIR is often not filed, and for that the victim has to go from pillar to post. For the FIR a medico-legal certificate is needed (MLC) – without this, there is no question of an FIR. Nor can the FIR have any standing at any level. However in an ideal situation, where an FIR has been filed and the case is now in court at the mercy of judges. Just recently, a judge told me regarding a case, ‘It is not a big deal if a man raises his hand a few times.’ This was also the argument being made by the defendant whose lawyers were arguing that this was just something between a husband and wife and shouldn’t be taken as ‘domestic violence’. Sadly a lot of our lawyers and judiciary think and feel the same way,” she said expressing anger at the situation.
“But even before all this, it is the police that tries to act as intermediary and pushes the woman to resile her case and get a written agreement from a man over how he will not hit her next time. How then can any precedent be set, and why else can the conviction rate not be so low?” she questions.
Advocate Shiza refers to Justice Ayesha Malik’s recent judgement from the Supreme court on khula, where she has said that violence is not just physical it is also psychological, and that when in court domestic violence is weighed then it is not only tangible evidence contained in the FIR and MLC which should be seen, but the circumstances should also be noted.
Breakdown of domestic violence cases
Out of the total number of cases of physical abuse (38), 13 are under investigation while the challans for 24 cases have been submitted uptil now. The remaining one case was withdrawn.
There were 7 cases of sexual abuse recorded within the category of domestic violence. Out of these four are currently under trial and two under investigation. The only registered psychological abuse case is also under trial. There are also 4 cases of financial abuse which are also all under trial.
Regarding the situation of zero conviction and acquittal, Islamabad based lawyer Munir Ahmed who has worked with domestic violence victims told Voicepk that there were several reasons why this rate is so low.
“Over the past year and a half, in Islamabad West, there have been 250 cases filed of rape and domestic violence and there have been only 6 convictions,” he said. “In general the conviction rate is also low because the victims don’t get legal help and they do not gather sufficient evidence to build a case. There are also lapses at the end of state functionaries. This includes the recorded statement of the DV survivor under 164 Cr.P.C which has to be recorded by the area magistrates. That is a critical evidence which is not taken.” He especially refers to the Sania Bibi case in which the case became strong especially because she had recorded a video statement, so even after her death her perpetrators were arrested and refused to be let out on bail.
Munir Ahmad adds that it takes a long time sometimes decades for a perpetrator to be punished for the crime because of lagging trials and court procedures.
Meanwhile Zohra Ahmed says, “There is a major lack of gender sensitivity among police, judiciary and even psycho-social support. Ahmed is the founder of the Jugnu Project Domestic Violence Resource Center, a family violence and GBV specialist.
“There is no survivor-centric trauma response in such cases. Court rooms make the DV survivor stand in the same courtroom as their abuser without taking into regard the power imbalance. The victim is unable to say what exactly happened. Some gender courts don’t this, but in general the attitude discourages women to file and FIR. There is a major lack of awareness regarding the survivor and her circumstances.”
She added that at times the ML Officer (MLO) does not even write down correctly a detailed report of the bruises and wounds. “DV cases should be sped up, but what happens is that the defendant will usually delay the case by not appearing so that the case is slowed down. In some cases the survivors withdraws the case, and in others she may even be killed while the case is still pending.”
Reforms and recommendations
SSDO urges immediate reforms in handling domestic violence cases, including enhanced coordination between law enforcement and prosecution agencies, capacity building of police officers, and public sensitization campaigns to enable survivors to report abuse safely.
The organization remains committed to data-driven advocacy and the effective enforcement of domestic violence laws, ensuring justice and protection for all victims of abuse.