Father of Baloch woman reveals his FIR was trashed | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Father of Baloch woman reveals his FIR was trashed

ISLAMABAD: A handwritten application sent to the Balochistan Police two months ago by the father of one of the innocent women who were buried alive has given a new twist to the ongoing sordid tale of inhuman behaviour.

The application, kept secret so far, gives details of how the helpless souls were quietly butchered without the knowledge of their family members, who now consider them innocent.The new evidence, the first of its kind since the issue has rocked the country, establishes another heartbreaking fact that one of the women, Izzat Khatoon, killed in the name of honour, was a mother of two minors.

Atta Mohammad, the father of the unfortunate mother of two, in his handwritten application to the Allahabad police station SHO, Khankot, reveals details of the persecution of his daughter by some members of his tribe who, under pressure from some political personalities of the area, forced him to withdraw it later.

The Balochistan Police know the powerful political personality who put pressure on the local SHO not to register an FIR, but they are afraid of arresting him only to save their skin and job.The News is in possession of the handwritten application of Atta, which was consigned to the dustbin by the Police officials, who put the applicant under pressure to withdraw the same in the name of respect for the tribal customs.

According to the statement of Atta, he married his daughter, Izzat Khatoon, to one Zahid alias Zahdoo some eight years ago. She bore two children – Aarzi and Mor, a boy.Some 15 days ago, he went to see his daughter and two of his grandchildren at their home. But when he reached there, to his shock, he found his daughter missing. When he inquired from the neighbours about the whereabouts of his daughter, he was told that Zahid was in Quetta for the last several days.

When the clueless father further inquired about his daughter he was told that she had gone to Usta Mohammad for some medical treatment. But she was picked up at gunpoint by three tribesmen, namely Mohammad Qasim, Rehmatullah and Jaabar. These three armed men drove his daughter to some unknown place in a pick-up and killed her after declaring her “Siyah Kari”.

Atta wrote to the SHO that her daughter was innocent and killed in cold blood by the three tribesmen. He then mounted a desperate search for the grave of his daughter but could not locate it despite his best efforts. He said although no one guided him to his daughter’s grave, it was confirmed to him by everyone in the area that his daughter was killed in the name of honour. Atta repeatedly wrote in his application that his daughter, mother of two children, was innocent and she did not commit any moral crime for which she might have been killed and buried at an unknown place without any formal religious rites.

Atta had requested the SHO to register a case against the three accused, who had first kidnapped and then butchered her daughter. But the handwritten statement of Atta was never converted into an FIR, apparently on the pressure of some of the notables of the area, who have now gone underground.
Source: The News
Date:9/15/2008