Three arrested for burning girl alive in Kashmir village

Family vows campaign for justice

Police on Tuesday arrested all the three men accused of burning a girl alive in an AJK village on June 1 from the sessions court after the judge refused to extend their bail.

The three were out on interim bail after they were booked on June 2 for killing Saiqa. Hassan Khan Afridi, the SHO of Dheer Kot police station, confirmed that the trio has been arrested. “They will be produced before the court to obtain their physical remand on Wednesday,” he said. Saiqa’s father Muhammad Ashraf had lodged a complaint with the Kohala police that her daughter was burnt alive by the three.

Meanwhile, the family of the 22-year-old girl has announced it will launch a campaign in the hunt for justice.

“We are in search of justice since the day my young daughter, Saiqa, was burnt alive at her home in (village) Munasa (near Kohala in the AJK district of Dheer Kot) by local influential Kazim Khan, his son Usman and Iqbal Khan,” Muhammad Ashraf told reporters here. He was flanked by elder brother Muhammad Sadiq Khan and son Ghulam Mustafa.

“We will make every effort to win justice. We will stage a sit-in in front of the AJK Supreme Court. If nothing happened, then in front of the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” the ailing father of Saiqa said. The family vowed to knock every door for award of punishment to the alleged killers of the girl.

“They (culprits) are wealthier and have political backing from the ruling Muslim Conference while we are poor. We appeal to human rights organisations to help us in the pursuit of justice,” Saiqa’s elder brother Istafar Khan, 29, told The Express Tribune.

He said that Suleman, 22, the younger son of Kazim Khan, wanted to marry Saiqa but one of the accused, Iqbal Khan, desired Suleman to marry his daughter instead. Therefore, Iqbal orchestrated the plan “to remove my sister from the way”.

Meanwhile, Ansar Burney Trust has offered free of cost legal aid to the grief-stricken family. “We will provide legal help to Saiqa’s family and we are in contact with prominent lawyers for the purpose,” Khawaja Talib Hussain, AJK Bureau in-charge of Ansar Burney Turst told The Express Tribune.

Saiqa Ashraf was set on fire allegedly by the trio on her refusal to shun Suleman. She succumbed to her burn injuries in Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Muzaffarabad on June 10.

Earlier in a letter written to The Express Tribune, Ashraf had informed that the suspects threatening him and his family with dire consequences.

He had claimed that Kazim Khan, who was in transport business, came to his house along with his two sons and after a brief talk with him they called his daughter Saiqa and started abusing her. Later, they locked her in a room and set her ablaze after sprinkling petrol on her. She was rescued by some villagers who rushed to the place on hearing her screams only after the perpetrators had fled.

The villagers had shifted her to the CMH Muzaffarabad in a serious condition. However, she succumbed to the severe burn injuries. “Saiqa was laid to rest in Munasa. I could not see her off personally because I was unable to move,” Ashraf wrote.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2010.