Pakistani anchor brings daughter on show to condemn 8-year-old's rape
What's the story
As Pakistan reels with the horrific rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl, a popular anchor hosted news bulletin with her infant daughter on her lap as a protest against the appalling incident.
Kiran Naz delivered a passionate monologue on Samaa TV, strongly condemning the brutal act and how little Pakistan is doing to keep its girls safe.
Read on for more.
Details
'Today I'm not Kiran Naz. Today, I'm a mother'
With her young daughter obliviously looking at the camera from her lap, Naz began the bulletin by saying, "Today I'm not Kiran Naz. Today, I'm a mother."
Her courageous protest and her 1.50-minute-long rousing speech, that portrays Pakistan's apathy and failure in preventing and effectively dealing with sexual crimes against children, is being widely applauded and shared on social media.
Twitter Post
Kiran Naz's passionate, heartfelt protest against the 8-year-old girl's rape
Not often that you see a TV news anchor bring her own child to her news cast - @SAMAATV 's Kiran Naz did precisely that to make a point about how she felt as a mother in Pakistan #JusticeForZainab #Justice4Zainab pic.twitter.com/6XMXQJmfzV
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) January 10, 2018
The monologue
'This is the entire society's murder'
"The smallest coffins are the heaviest. Entire Pakistan is burdened by the weight of her coffin," says Naz.
In the bulletin, she points out the ironic timing of the incident. The girl, whose name Naz reveals as Zainab, was raped and killed when her parents were in Saudi Arabia praying for her well-being.
"This is the entire society's murder," Naz goes on to say.
Backstory
Zainab was raped multiple times and then strangulated to death
Zainab disappeared on January 4 while returning from tuition in Pakistan's Kasur town.
A constable found her body in a garbage heap on Tuesday. Police suspected that she was raped multiple times and strangulated to death.
People stormed the deputy commissioner's office on Wednesday in protest. Retaliating, police opened fire, killing two and injuring several others.
The situation in Kasur has been tense since.