Kainat rape case takes a bizarre twist
KARACHI/HYDERABAD: The case of an alleged rape victim, Kainat Soomro, took a bizarre twist on Thursday as the accused presented marriage documents.
Kainat, a student of Class VIII at the Government Girls High School, Mehar, was allegedly kidnapped from a general store in a Mehar market, a town in the Dadu district, in the second week of January.
However, it has surfaced that the medical report of the victim denies the rape charge, while one of the accused claims to be her husband and it is stated that the girl, who claims to be the victim of the rape, is, in fact, the younger sister of the victim.
Ahsan alias Nomi Thebo, one of the four accused rapists, claimed on Thursday at a press conference in Hyderabad he married Kainat on Jan 12, 2007 in a court. He also showed newsmen a Nikahnama and a photograph showing him with the girl.
He also distributed copies of the medical report of Kainat, which denies she was raped. However, Kainat, who is on hunger strike in front of the Karachi Press Club since the last three days, claimed that her signatures were forcibly taken on a plain paper that might have been used to prepare a fake document of her marriage.
Thebo shocked journalists in Hyderabad when he said the girl sitting on hunger strike in Karachi was not the girl he married. “She is not Kainat, rather her younger sister,” he insisted.
He alleged that the father of the victim was exploiting his daughters. Thebo works at the store, from where the girl was alleged to be taken away. Niaz Ahmed Siddiqui, President Mehar Press Club, told The News that Nomi Thebo was the son of a poor farmer and he is not an influential person.
He also confirmed that Kainat had a younger sister whose name is Jannat and said the alleged victim shown on media was, in fact, Jannat and not Kainat. Thebo said his marriage with Kainat took place before a judge. After their marriage they moved to the house of his uncle, Kaleemullah Thebo, in Kotri, he added.
Later on, according to Thebo, the girl’s father, Ghulam Nabi Soomro, came to them and took Kainat with him, saying she would return as bride from his (Ghulam Nabi’s) house and he promised her Rukhsati. “However, Soomro backtracked on his words and lodged a fake case of rape,” he said.
SHO Mehar Ghulam Sarwar Panhwar, who is investigating the case, told The News by telephone that police believed it was a case of “love marriage”.
They married in the court of 1st Judicial Magistrate Hyderabad on Jan 13, said Panhwar. “We have verified from the court, the Maulvi and the witnesses,” he said. Maulvi Shabbir Ahmed solemnised the Nikah, he added.
Panhwar said he had asked the parents of Kainat to bring her before the police for recording her statement, but they had not done it so far. The investigation officer also confirmed that the medical report of the alleged victim did not show any signs of rape but the girl was “not virgin”.
When asked about the medical report, the mother of Kainat, who was also sitting with her daughter at the hunger strike camp at the Karachi Press Club, said they had lost it. When The News contacted the headmistress of the school, where Kainat studies, and asked her if she could recognise that the girl shown on media was Kainat or Jannat, she said there were around 1,500 students in her school and she did not recognise everyone by face.
“Her mother brought the picture, but I don’t recognise her by face,” said Arbab Chandio, the headmistress. Kainat is likely to be presented before the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad bench, on Friday (today) on a petition filed by Ahsan alias Nomi Thebo.
In another development, the War Against Rape (WAR), has moved an application with the CCPO Karachi for provision of security to Kainat during her journey to Hyderabad on Friday. “For the time being, there is no protection to her in front of the Karachi Press Club,” Sarah Zaman, project coordinator of the WAR, said.
Of the four accused in the case, three are on bail. The Sindh High Court, Larkana bench, rejected the bail application of one accused, Shahban Shaikh, as he did not appear before the court on Wednesday.
Source: The News
Date:2/16/2007
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