Natasha’s case could be a setback for Pakistan’s struggle to shed its murky legacy of enforced disappearances and summary executions, but many women and queer activists think such a defeat is only possible if they stay silent. They do not want ‘to be used and forgotten’. The injustice within Natasha’s family provides clear evidence of how queer women suffer from the suppression of women, and how women continue to suffer from patriarchal rule. It is time for feminist attorneys to take up such cases and defend the humanity of queer women. For ‘these girls are just as human as any other’.

No one thought of it being an organised racket: that government ministers do it, businessmen do it, Prison Department officials do it, and the cops do it.Though the wider issues thrown up by Natasha’s case have, for the most part, not been reported, they are nonetheless glaringly revealed by this one singular incident. The case of the drunk-driving heiress has highlighted the sorry state of the Pakistani justice system, where – despite Natasha’s recklessness causing the death of two people – victims forgave her, ‘In the name of Allah, we have forgiven her,’ as they told the judge letting her go free.

His sudden pardon has raised questions about the power of money and influence to affect legal outcomes. Natasha’s family is very wealthy, and many wonder whether the victim’s family was pressured into forgiveness and settlement by the impact of wealth.

The phenomenon is not unique; time and again we have seen that the extremely wealthy can escape the full consequences of their crimes, using money and power to influence proceedings, even pressuring victims to withdraw charges or accept settlements. The experience of the ordinary citizen, by contrast, is frequently to struggle to obtain justice.

Why does this gap persist? The reason is systemic flaws that allow financial power to sway legal outcomes. The elites have the tools to flout legal accountability, while everyone else has to grapple with the harsh reality of an unequal system that demands reform in order to ensure justice is possible for the non-rich.

We should push our legal system toward fairness and accountability regardless of an individual’s financial circumstances. We should demand that the system deliver justice where justice is due, to those who deserve it, and not to those who can claim it just because they can afford it.