A group of local landlords have allegedly threatened the lives of a gang rape victim and her husband unless they drop a case against them.
According to residents in Shedani Sharif, Rahim Yar Khan resident Mazhar Din and his wife Sadia Bibi have appealed to the court and police for protection after Sadia Bibi was raped by four landlords a couple of weeks ago. “The couple has locked themselves in their house and are clambering for help. They are desperate for protection,” said Sadia Bibi’s cousin Khalida.
Khalida told reporters that the accused landlords Chaudhary Muhammad Iqbal and his accomplices had threatened medical officials not to issue a certificate confirming that Sadia had been raped. “They stalked her and her husband for a week so that they couldn’t approach a doctor or the police,” she said.
Sadia Bibi told reporters that Iqbal was her husband’s employer and used to visit their house often. “On the day of the incident my husband wasn’t at home and he and his men abducted me. They took me to their dera in Ghazipur and raped me for five days,” she said.
Mazhar Din told reporters that he kept searching for his wife and appealed to the police to file a case. Station House Officer (SHO) Shahinshah Chandio registered a case and arrested Chaughary Iqbal.
“The Investigation Officer Azmat Ali Gahuri let him go and is not arresting the men. He has been trying to force us to settle even though Iqbal and his men are threatening to kill us either way,” Din said.
The couple have appealed to the District Police Officer (DPO) and Resident Police Officer (RPO) to help them get justice.
The names of the victim and her family have been changed to protect her identity
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2011.
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@jagjit sidhoo:
Pakistan could not have gone through Land Reforms like India did, because Pakistan was carved out of India with the support of landlords with huge swathes of land. In exchange for their support, they guaranteed themselves positions of power/authority. Even today, these people infest all positions of power across the nation. India had no such issues, so it was easy for her to implement these reforms without significant backlash. Now having said that, most recent statistics show that only a handful of Pakistanis own more than a 100 acres, with the bulk of the landlords being below that figure. So, as admirable a concept as land reform might sound, Pakistan doesn't really need it now. What it does need, is to continue to close the gap between the haves and the have-nots by working on the economy and focusing on education. 60+ years of issues will not be resolved in anything less unfortunately.
And you wonder why Pakistan has a terrible reputation?
Duplicitous religious sex morality and religious oppression in the pakistani society are important reasons of such perverted behaviours. Dark figure of crimes as rapes, child assault, domestic violence, forced prostitution must be much much much higher. As long as one is not caught, the crime does not exist for the society.
@Jagjit sidhoo, I agreed man we need that kind land reform long time ago. Nehru govt done good worked.
Unfortunately this is only the tip of the iceberg. Most cases are never reported.
Rahim Yar Khan.......... another similar incident
The solution is land reforms as was introduced in India no one is allowed to own more than 30 acres of farm land . My grandfather had 75 acres he managed to sell some of the excess rest was aquired by the govt .
Munqfaq e Aala where are you and your good governance???
Disgusting