Pakistani comic book heroine fights corruption and honour killings
Pakistan’s education system has been woefully underfunded for decades, exacerbating illiteracy with more than half of the country’s eight-year-olds unable to read
Pakistan’s newest female superhero has vowed to battle venal officials and protect battered women, as her creator tries to inspire the next generation to fight injustice in a deeply patriarchal society.
The new Pakistan Girl comic series is based on Sarah, a normal teenager with a pet cat who discovers she has superhuman powers after waking from a coma caused by a blast in her village.
Donning a green cape, Pakistan’s national colour, the protagonist whips a man beating a woman in a market and saves a young girl taken hostage by a bribe-seeking police officer in the series’ first comic book released this summer.
The creator of the English-language comic says he hopes the superhero will give young girls across Pakistan a role model and embolden them to fight corruption and violence in a country where crime is rife in major cities and corruption is the norm.
There’s a huge shortage of female role models and superheroes in the mainstream media here
“There’s a huge shortage of female role models and superheroes in the mainstream media here,” said author Hassan Siddiqui. “We wanted to create a strong female character for the girls in Pakistan and even the young boys in Pakistan that they can look up to.”