Mukhtar Mai again helpless against police | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Mukhtar Mai again helpless against police

MULTAN, Nov 20: With the judiciary tamed and media gagged, rights activist Mukhtar Mai is worried which door should the poor and aggrieved knock at to seek justice.

“The media is the last hope for this nation but the official efforts to hide truth by imposing curbs are extremely worrying for every concerned Pakistani,” she said while narrating another case of police indifference.

Mai who first encountered police six years ago after a jury-enforced gang-rape finds no change in thana culture over the years.

She said a constable tortured the brother of her secretary and the Alipur City SHO refused to lodge an FIR. Munir Ahmed, the brother of Naseem Akhtar, is a freshman at the Government Degree College in Alipur.

On Saturday, constable Kamran Ghallo allegedly tortured him in classroom. On the interference of lecturer Syed Abrar Bokhari, the accused let Munir go. On information, Mai arrived at the college and contacted SHO Rehan Rasool for docket for a medical examination of Munir. She said the SHO issued the docket hesitantly at our protest.

At the THQ Hospital, the doctor conducting medical examination stated minor injuries in the report, she alleged, adding that the doctor did so on the intervention of landlord Amir Gopang. She said the constable has violated the dignity of educational institution and the SHO wanted to save him.

She said the incident was part of a series of harassment against her launched by the government. Earlier, the government tired to implicate her brother in a case of pilfering electricity. She said the constable had confessed his crime, but the SHO refused to lodge the FIR.

The SHO said injuries were minor and the FIR could not be lodged. Amir Gopang and Dr Sagheer Ahmed, medical officer of the hospital, were not available for comment. Abrar Bokhari said he got freed Munir from the accused in the class.

Source: Dawn
Date:11/21/2007