By Syeda Amnah Batool, Member National Assembly of Pakistan
There are tragedies that shock us for a day, and there are tragedies that should force us to stop and examine the society we have created. The death of Hina Javed is one such tragedy.
According to the First Information Report and initial police findings reported in the press, Hina Javed was found dead in the bathroom of her apartment in Rawalpindi. Her hands had reportedly been tied, her mouth gagged and a wire fastened around her neck. The initial postmortem examination found a strangulation mark and other injuries. Her husband and a domestic worker were taken into custody, while the role of another family member was also being investigated. A seven member police team has reportedly been constituted, and the final cause of death will be determined after the forensic report is received.
These allegations are deeply disturbing. At the same time, because the matter is under investigation, everyone accused is entitled to due process and the courts must determine criminal responsibility. Justice for Hina will not be served through rumours, sensational claims or a trial on social media. It will be served through a professional investigation, reliable forensic evidence, an independent prosecution and a fair but timely judicial process.
Yet even while respecting the legal process, we must not look away from the larger and painful reality. Hina’s death is not only the story of one woman or one household. It raises a much more difficult question. Why does violence continue to enter our homes, and why do women so often remain unsafe even among the people who are supposed to protect them?
The identity, education or professional position of an accused person must never distract us from the seriousness of an allegation. Violence is not confined to uneducated, economically deprived or socially marginalised households. A respectable profession, an academic title, a comfortable residence and a polished public image do not guarantee respect within the home. Education may give a person knowledge, but it does not automatically produce empathy, self control or moral responsibility.
This is one reason such cases are frequently misunderstood. Society tends to search for a visible explanation. People ask why the woman remained in the relationship, why she did not complain more loudly, or why her family did not intervene earlier. These questions place the burden on the person facing violence instead of the person inflicting it.
The more honest questions are different. Did she have a safe place to go? Did she believe that she would be taken seriously? Was she financially or emotionally dependent? Was she afraid that reporting abuse would make the situation more dangerous? Did those around her treat repeated humiliation, threats or physical assault as an ordinary domestic dispute?
The available evidence helps us understand the silence surrounding domestic violence. According to UNFPA Pakistan, 34 percent of ever married women in Pakistan have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence by a spouse. Even more troubling is the finding that 56 percent of women who experienced physical or sexual violence neither sought help nor spoke to anyone about it.
This silence should not be mistaken for consent or the absence of danger. It is often produced by fear, financial dependence, social pressure, concern for children, lack of family support and uncertainty about the response of police and courts. Many women are advised to remain patient, protect the family’s reputation or avoid becoming the cause of a broken marriage. What begins as controlling behaviour or humiliation may then progress to threats, isolation, physical assault and, in the most extreme cases, death.
The scale of the problem is equally alarming. The Sustainable Social Development Organization’s national report for 2024, based on data obtained from police and prosecution departments, recorded 32,617 reported cases of gender based violence. These included 5,339 reported cases of rape, 24,439 cases of kidnapping or abduction, 2,238 cases of domestic violence and 547 so called honour killings.
The conviction figures expose the greatest weakness in our response. The same report found a national conviction rate of only 0.5 percent in rape cases, 0.5 percent in honour killing cases and 1.3 percent in domestic violence cases. These numbers do not necessarily mean that every remaining accused person was innocent. They point towards a system in which cases may collapse because of weak investigation, poor evidence collection, pressure on complainants, hostile witnesses, delayed trials and inadequate coordination among police, prosecutors, medical professionals and protection services.
This is why passing a law, although essential, is never enough on its own.
Parliament has taken an important step through the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2026. As a member of the government benches, I recognise and appreciate this progress. The law reflects the state’s acceptance that violence within a home is not a private family matter. It is a violation that requires protection, relief, rehabilitation and accountability.
Now the real test is implementation.
The federal and provincial governments should establish a clear emergency response system for domestic violence. Every police station should have trained personnel capable of conducting a proper risk assessment. When a woman reports strangulation, death threats, confinement, stalking, access to weapons or escalating physical violence, her complaint must never be treated as a routine marital disagreement. These are serious warning signs that may indicate an immediate threat to life.
Protection orders must be accessible and prompt. A woman in danger cannot wait through weeks of paperwork. Police, hospitals, prosecutors, shelter homes and legal aid providers should operate through a connected referral system so that a survivor is not forced to repeat her experience at several offices merely to receive basic assistance.
The Ministry of Human Rights already operates the toll free Helpline 1099, which provides legal advice, counselling, assistance and referrals. According to the Ministry, the helpline had received almost 1.5 million calls by May 2025 and provided services in nearly 60,000 relevant cases. This is a valuable national facility, but many citizens still do not know that it exists. Information about 1099 and local protection services should be displayed in hospitals, universities, police stations, courts, workplaces and public transport terminals.
We also need properly funded shelters that provide more than temporary accommodation. A survivor may require medical treatment, trauma counselling, legal representation, safe transport, protection for her children and support in becoming financially independent. Without these services, telling a woman to leave a violent home may amount to asking her to choose between abuse and destitution.
The justice system must also improve its treatment of evidence. Police officers should receive specialised training in domestic homicide and coercive control. Medical and forensic examinations must be conducted without delay. Digital communications, previous complaints, medical histories and statements from relatives or neighbours should be preserved lawfully. Prosecutors should be involved at an early stage instead of receiving an incomplete file months later.
There should also be transparent public reporting. The government should publish annual data showing the number of domestic violence complaints, protection orders, arrests, completed investigations, prosecutions, convictions, acquittals and pending trials. Without reliable data, we cannot identify where cases are failing or hold institutions accountable for repeated negligence.
Universities and professional bodies have a particular responsibility. Education must include character, ethics, respect and nonviolent conflict resolution. Institutions should maintain confidential channels through which students and employees can report harassment, threats and abusive behaviour. Where an employee faces a serious criminal allegation, the institution should cooperate fully with investigators while respecting due process. Institutional prestige must never be used to silence scrutiny or protect an individual from lawful investigation.
Men and boys must be included in prevention efforts. We have to challenge the idea that authority in a marriage means control over another human being. Anger is not strength. Possessiveness is not love. Humiliation is not discipline. A marriage does not take away a woman’s dignity, freedom or right to bodily safety.
Religious scholars, teachers, parents and community leaders should speak clearly about these values. We must stop advising women to endure violence for the sake of appearances. Families must learn to recognise threats, isolation, obsessive control and repeated assault as warnings that require intervention, not silence.
The media also has a duty. Hina Javed should not be reduced to a disturbing photograph, a headline or a few days of public outrage. Reporting must protect her dignity, avoid unsupported claims and follow the investigation until its conclusion. Public attention often disappears before the evidence has been collected and the trial has begun. Justice requires persistence long after a case stops trending.
As parliamentarians, we should not respond to every tragedy only with condemnation. We must ask whether the police acted promptly, whether forensic evidence was preserved, whether the prosecution has sufficient resources, whether protection mechanisms are functional and whether the family is receiving legal and psychological assistance. Parliament should review the implementation of domestic violence laws at regular intervals and require responsible authorities to report measurable progress.
Hina Javed’s death must not become another case that briefly disturbs the national conscience and then disappears into files, delays and statistics. Her family deserves the truth. The accused deserve a lawful process. The people of Pakistan deserve institutions capable of delivering justice without fear, favour or unreasonable delay.
Most importantly, every woman deserves to know that if she says she is in danger, someone will listen before it is too late.
The measure of a society is not the respect it offers women in speeches and ceremonies. It is the protection it provides when a woman closes the door of her home and no camera is watching.
Justice for Hina must therefore mean more than punishment if the allegations are proved. It must mean building a Pakistan in which warnings are taken seriously, survivors are supported, institutions perform their duties and no woman is told to remain silent in the place where she fears for her life.
