Kainat Soomro was violently gang-raped by four men in the rural village of Dadu in southern Pakistan in 2009 when she was 13 years-of-age. As typically happens in Pakistan, rather than rush to the young girl’s defence the village elders decreed that she had brought shame upon the village and ordered her family to kill her. The Asian Human Rights Commission earlier reported on the incident in several interventions. Four years later, and after losing her brother who was assassinated by the perpetrators, Kainat continues to struggle for justice. Please refer to:
PAKISTAN: Judge humiliates teenage rape victim in open court
PAKISTAN: Gender-biased judge should be transferred from rape trials
PAKISTAN: The brother of a rape victim has been found murdered three months after his arrest
PAKISTAN: Complainant of a 14-year-old girl’s gang-rape case is murdered in order to force the relatives withdrawing the complaint
In solidarity with the Kainat Soomro and as a tribute to her courage, Airyn Lentija Sloan, a Filipino poet based in Hong Kong has written the following poem in response to an article published recently in news.com.au. This article may be seen here.
Frayed Justice (A poem for Kainat Soomro)
By
Airyn Lentija Sloan
In this ebbing world
how much courage
you’ll need
to survive?
Our question
to the unknown
If by chance
you noticed her glance
will you digest the stress…
the despondency…
upon her cheeks they tarry…
perhaps, dust that filth in your eyes
that you might see
her scalded marrow…
the lasting torment of that instance…
her innocence stripped with mud
an unending asylum
where light is trapped
within tearing seconds…
her lifelong demons
eat her nerves
piece by piece
within that mental arena
without escape
they gang-raped
…her.
And after bleeding her wound
she was called
“Kari”
for the world to understand
“Black Virgin”
they labeled
…her.
Yes, they pushed her under,
cheapened…
demoted…
humiliated…
from the delicate mortal
that she is…
for what account…
for what misdeed…
a sister?
a family?
a friend?
a suffering victim
fraying for justice,
praying for inner peace
…she.
What life is there to live
for such a shattered soul…
another call out to the unknown.
