Rape case: Court issues non bailable arrest warrants for three police officers

The officers did not appear in court despite court orders, victim not produced.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court on Thursday issued non bailable arrest warrants for Chiniot District Police Officer (DPO) Shehzad Akbar and two other policemen for not appearing before the court and failing to produce a rape victim who had allegedly been taken away by some policemen from her home for a DNA test.   

The court ordered the deputy inspector general (DIG) concerned to ensure that the girl was produced before the court on the next hearing -August 27. Petitioner Hafiz Muhammad Aslam alleged that some influential men in his area raped his daughter. He said he had registered a complaint with the Saddar police station. He said a few days later, Saddar Station House Officer Muhammad Younis, Assistant Sub Inspector Mazhar Iqbal and two other men, whom he identified as Mehdi Hassan and Shaukat, went to his house and told him that they had to take his daughter to Lahore for a DNA test. He said he wanted to accompany her, but they took her away. He said when his daughter did not return home, he contacted the Saddar police several times, but they did not tell him where she was. On a previous hearing, the court had directed the district police officer to recover the girl and produce her before the court. However, none of the officers appeared on Thursday. Nor was the girl produced. The court then issued arrest warrants for the DPO, SHO Younis and ASI Iqbal and directed the DIG to recover the girl and produce her in court.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2012.