(Thread, a long one, heavy thread)

No matter how loud news packages blare with the stories of rape, the hard fact which remains in the social constructs that we exist in is, nothing is more worthless than the life of a woman damaged by the heinous crimes committed against her..

A girl who has even made it to the law enforcement in July this year, after several months of agonizing torment of her rapist and harassers, committed suicide two days ago in somewhere in Lahore, you won’t see this on the headlines...

Infuriatingly, the act of stalking, doxing, date-rape, gang-rape, unconsensual filming, black mailing and finally harassment are just a chunk of what readers and TV watchers get to hear and understand.

The young woman talked of here, & several out there who stay in distress for lack of support from the system, was alone because she feared her movement could be limited if she involved her family when an employee of cab service stalked her online and by standing outside her house

She was terrorized when he swung his weapons to intimidate her. She was intoxicated when he raped her with his friends. She was confused when he left her unconscious close to her house. She was hopeless when she first attempted suicide.

She had gone through years of experiencing lack of empathy rom her own blood and kin when she decided not to involve them because she expected support from no one. The course of feelings she went through are indescribable. They are inexplicable.

The culprit was arrested by cyber crime wing but the girl is dead now. The truth is, arresting a rapist and blackmailer does not put an end to the victim’s suffering. These wolves do not operate alone. The insecurity does not end once a woman is behind closed doors.

The therapy a session with the psychologist can be undone during the hours and days spent with people in close circles who do not empathize. A woman is still alone. Her life is still worthless.

The girl succeeded in taking her life the second time. She lies in a grave somewhere in Sargodha. The questions are several every time – Why did she need to contact the Investigation Officer at cyber crime wing Lahore hours before the suicide attempt?

Why was her death declared to be a natural death after all by her own family? Why was suicide her only option?  May no one have to go through what these victims do, we pray. Yet, we do.

Every single day, and every day, we are told how it was our own fault. If anyone thinks suicide is the plan a woman has in mind when she steps out of her home for any purpose – education, work, socializing, traveling – they are wrong.

They’re even delusional if they think a woman is asking for it. When details of women are leaked, phished and doxed through acts as plain as hiring a car for commute, who is to be blamed?

When a woman feels so alone in the world, in her house, that’s he cannot ask for help, who is to be blamed? When a woman takes her own life because she was pushed to it, is it even suicide? Or is it murder?

I hope your last text msgs to IO at the cyber crime wing & the entire team ignoring your last calls of help will keep them haunting for years to come, I hope Ali Niazi rot in jail, I hope the state becomes your guardian & take everyone to the task who are complicit in this case.

I hope you rest in peace R. I really hope you do now...

We all are devastated at the helpline since we thought our job was done when Ali Niazi was arrested, when R called us passionately last time in July, thanking the team that her agony is over. We didn’t know it wasn’t over & someone in the state machinery wasn’t doing their job.