Punjab police chief calls violence against women, children a red line

Punjab Inspector General of Police Abdul Karim declared on Sunday that abuse and violence against women and children is a "red line" under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif's Safe Punjab Vision, and directed his officers to prioritise the timely resolution of such cases.

He was presiding over a review meeting in Lahore on investigation affairs, serious crimes and prosecution progress, a police spokesperson said, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

By the spokesperson's account, the meeting examined how investigations are conducted and how cases move toward prosecution. Karim told the officers present to treat cases involving women and children as a priority and to see them through without delay.

The report did not say how many such cases Punjab has registered, how many have reached trial, or what period the review covered. APP, the state news agency, published a partial account of the inspector general's remarks, and the spokesperson's statement did not name the officers who attended or give their ranks.

In a separate announcement, the World Health Organization said Pakistan and the WHO had launched the country's first national strategy to end violence affecting millions of children. The organisation's notice carried the headline "Pakistan, WHO launch first national strategy to end violence affecting millions of children".

The notice, in the form available, did not give the strategy's funding, its duration, or the number of children it is meant to reach. The APP report on the Lahore meeting made no reference to the national strategy.

Punjab, the country's most populous province, runs its own police force under the provincial government, and the inspector general is its senior commander. Karim framed the directive around the chief minister's programme; the report mentioned no new law, notification or court order behind it.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif is the Punjab chief minister, and Safe Punjab Vision is the programme her office has attached to the police's work on crimes against women and children.