In Punjab, it is no longer enough to gang rape a girl; it is also necessary to make a video of it. And what good is that visual record, if it is not shared with the world.

The men of Pakistan await, their fingers eagerly pressing buttons and sliding over screens, goaded by insatiable appetites that crave the violation of a woman’s body.

They watch it again and again, they share it with friends.

For them, there is no shame in the consumption of rape, no evil in its dissemination, no cruelty then in its continued propagation.

This is not a hypothesis, but a truth. A story reported by the BBC reveals exactly why. Sadia (name has been changed to protect the victim's privacy), a young girl living in a village in rural Pakistan was gang raped by a number of men.

They made a video of the rape and then shared it via Bluetooth and various cell phone-enabled social media. It went viral. Thousands of Pakistanis clicked on it, watched it and yes even shared it far and wide.

Making a video of a gang rape, watching a video of a gang rape, sharing a video of a gang rape, bears no moral cost in Pakistan.

 

Pakistan’s vigilant censors, who demonstrate such alacrity in imposing other bans; have none for this crime.

The video continues to be available on the Internet both for viewing and sharing, its consumers unafraid and unashamed to participate, in this viral desecration of a young woman.

Sadia’s story is not the only one. The armchair rapists of Pakistani women; these men who consume these videos have much to choose from. Facebook pages and other forms of social media continue to propagate and promote videos of young girls. Those who make them wish to shame the girls, exploit them not simply in person but again and again by spreading the material.

It is an effective strategy; there are millions of leering, lascivious and lecherous men awaiting their product; eager to do their part, watch rape, share rape and ultimately commit rape.

 

Also read: The trivialization of rape in Pakistan