‘Police inaction’ in rape case condemned

Police say court will be requested to cancel suspect’s bail on Monday.

FAISALABAD: Dozens of residents of Nazimabad on Sunday staged a demonstration against Factory Area police for, what they called, police’ reluctance to arrest a rape suspect.

The protesters gathered at Dijkot Road and blocked it for traffic for over a couple of hours, causing inconvenience to the commuters.

The protestors later moved to the Factory Area police station where they staged a sit-in and chanted slogans against the police. The sit-in ended after a police team met and assured the protesters of prompt action in the matter.

Talking to The Express Tribune at the demonstration, Shafiqur Rahman, a relative of the victim, 15, accused one of her colleagues at a factory of sexually assaulting her for over eight months. He said the police had failed to take any action against the suspect in two days after the registration of the FIR on Thursday.

The FIR stated that the suspect had promised to marry the child but turned her away on learning about her pregnancy.

A medical examination of the girl carried out at Allied Hospital found that she had been pregnant for some months.

Factory Area police rejected the impression that they were reluctant to take action against the suspect. They said the suspect had obtained an interim bail from a court on Friday. They said they would approach the court on Monday (today) and request for the cancellation of the bail so that the suspect could be arrested for interrogation.

Published in The Express Tribune, 25^th, 2012.