Rape attempt victim seeks registration of case | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Rape attempt victim seeks registration of case

JHANG, Sept 12: Qadirpur police are reluctant to register a case of alleged rape attempt on a 14-year-old schoolgirl as the accused reportedly belongs to an influential family. In an application to Jhang district police officer, the class-seven student at the Abdalian Girls High School, Mandi Shah Jewna, stated that her father and brother worked as farm labourers in Vehari district, while she lived in Barewali village along with her mother and an infant brother. She alleged that Khadim Hussain, the son of an influential landlord, who lived in the neighborhood, used to tease her and followed her to her school

She said on Aug 10, 2006, when she was returning home from Barwali bus stop, Khadim, who was waiting for her at a deserted place, tried to molest her but she raised an alarm, upon which some passersby arrived there. Khadim, however, went away threatening to avenge the `insult’. Two days later, she said, when she was alone in her house, Khadim arrived there along with his friends. He barged into the house and dragged her into a room where he tore her clothes and tried to rape her as his friends stood guard outside. Hearing her cries, she said, some people working in nearby fields came to rescue her, which prompted Khadim and his friends to flee from the place. Her mother and some neighbors then took Farzana to the DHQ hospital, where a lady doctor who issued a medico-legal certificate for the injuries she received while offering resistance to her molester examined her.

The next day, Farzan appeared before Jhang DPO with an application and the MLC who referred the matter to the Qadirpur police SHO for inquiry. The SHO, who was allegedly influenced by some local politicians and others, declared in his report that the accused had only thrashed and molested the applicant outside her house and no rape attempt could be established. The applicant again appeared before the DPO and expressed her reservations on the inquiry report, demanding registration of the case, but the matter was referred to the DSP concerned who in his report agreed to the findings of the earlier inquiry. Farzana has appealed to the human rights activists and police high-ups to help her get justice. –Correspondent.
Source: Dawn
Date:9/13/2006