Road to seeking justice: Rape victim accuses Dastis of harassment

Girl’s father says MNA Dasti’s family threatened to abduct all his children, Dasti denies charge.

MULTAN:

The family of an alleged rape victim on Monday accused  National Assembly Member Jamshaid Dasti and his family members of harassing them and threatening to kill them if a rape case against Dasti’s nephew, Nasir, was not withdrawn.

Addressing a press conference, the rape victim said that despite police protection for her and her family, Jamshaid Dasti and his brothers had been threatening them and pressurising them to drop the case against Nasir. She said that her family had informed the police and Muzaffargarh District Police Officer (DPO) Rai Zameer-ul-Haq had provided protection to them and was conducting an inquiry that she said was “impartial and on merit”.

The girl, who is an FSc student, said that they had demanded justice from Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The chief minister had taken notice of the incident and ordered the Muzaffargarh district police officer to hold an inquiry and provide protection to the rape victim and her family.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the girl’s father, Abdul Latif, claimed that Jamshaid Dasti and his brother Irshad had threatened him that all his children would be kidnapped.

Also on Monday, a medical report confirmed that the girl had been raped.

A female doctor from the Muzaffargarh district headquarters hospital had conducted the medical examination of the victim.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Jamshaid Dasti denied the allegations against him and his family and said: “I am on the side of the victim and [am all] for providing them justice and will fight for their rights. I have never tried to affect the inquiry and the Muzaffargarh district police officer and other police officials investigating the matter will bear witness to my statement.”

The parliamentarian also spoke of threats against his family. “For the last three days we are not moving out of our residence because of threats of kidnapping and death.”

The police had arrested the suspect, Nasir Dasti, on Thursday after the residents in Deen Pur area of Muzaffargarh had apprehended him and beaten him up. A case had been registered against him with the Civil Lines police. He was sent on a judicial remand.

Muzaffargarh DPO Rai Zameer-ul-Haq told The Express Tribune that the police had received an application from the girl’s family about death threats and harassment. “I have already provided them protection and have also ordered an inquiry into the threats given to them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2014.