The mother of a seven-year-old girl who was strangled to death last month has appealed to the authorities to publicly execute her daughter’s murderers so that the criminals are taught a sobering lesson.
“I appeal to the government and law-enforcing agencies to publicly hang the murderer of my seven-year-old-daughter Saher Batool. Such exemplary punishment will help teach such cruel criminals a lesson,” said the wife of Ghulam Sakhi Khan.
Saher, a student of first grade, was kidnapped and brutally killed on October 28. Even two weeks after Saher’s death, her parents are awaiting justice.
“We are from the Hazara community, and do not have any enmity with anyone,” she said. Members of the Hazara community are convinced that Saher was tortured and killed because of her sectarian background. Protests have been staged across the country in the hope that justice will be served.
“Where should we Hazaras go when our children are killed in front of our house?” asked the girl’s mother.
Police officials insist that their initial investigations show that the child’s murder had no sectarian undertones whatsoever. “A couple of such incidents have taken place in the last six to seven years in Quetta,” said SHO Asim Shah of Bijili Riad police station. “It would be premature to conclude that the motive was sectarian hate,” he said. Some 13 suspects were briefly detained earlier as part of the police investigation into the case.
According to Qayyum Changezi, chief of the Hazara jirga, the inspector general of police had said that two culprits had been identified in the girl’s murder case. “We had a detailed meeting with the IG police on Monday and he said the case is close to being concluded,” said Changezi talking to The Express Tribune. “That is what the IG told me during the meeting, and said he would reveal the details regarding the investigation within two days.”
The victim’s mother recounted the painful incident during an interview with The Express Tribune. “I could hear my daughter playing outside our house. As the voices turned silent, I began to worry. I came outside and could not find my daughter,” she said.
“After an hour I told her father who was at work. Some four hours later, a neighbour told me that someone had dumped the body of my daughter near the garbage dump,” she said. She was tortured before she was strangled to death. According to Asim Shah, SHO Bijili Road police station, the postmortem report states strangulation as the cause of the death and there were marks of violence on the body.
When asked about the process of investigation, the bereaved mother said that she would be more satisfied if the military did it, rather than the police.
“My daughter was too young to die. How can someone brutally kill an innocent child? Now, I am too scared to send my children outside,” she said, sharing that Batool did not know Urdu well but was very bright in studies. “God will do justice,” said the mother and broke down in tears, unable to continue the conversation.
Capital City Police Officer Abdul Razzaq Cheema said it was an attempted rape case. “The perpetrator kidnapped the girl with an intention to rape her. But the rape was not proven in the postmortem report.” Cheema added that teams of CIA and the police including lady officers are investigating the case.
According to official sources, security agencies are also investigating the case as it has become a high profile murder.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2014.
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may the child soul rest in peace.. May the soul find peace where ever it may be. May the parents, friends and family find peace and solace .. May the perpetrators of the crime be caught and punished in accordance with the law of the land !!! May this incident never occur again in anyone's life !!! God bless all !!!
This is a very sad story. Even for justice parents came on street. We never get justice in the past and the same fate for this case. We have 50 MINISTERS in Balouchistan, what is their performance and what is their activities. Their main aim to ENJOY their life at the cost of poor PAKISTANI TAX MONEY. No body is willing to work in office. Every body wants to pass his leisure time in Drawing room or Bed room. Shame for Balouchitan Govt that they cannot punish killer or rather they SUPPORT HUMAN KILLERS.
Five shameful instances have happened in 2 weeks in Pakistan.
First, it was the torture killing of the 7 year old hazara girl. Killing this child itself is horrible but to torture and kill her is beyond extreme.
Second was the kidnap, forced conversion and forcible marriage of the 12 year old hindu girl. The muslim who kidnaped and married her or his family members and others who aided this have not yet been arrested but the court fearing mob reaction sent her to a shelter and did not hand her over to her parents who were present in the court.
Fourth, the axing to death of a shia by none other than the policeman, and that too within the police station accusing him of blasphemy. There is no further news that I have read as to what the law enforcement agencies are doing on this. Nor have I read that the policeman who axed to death the shia has been brought to the court.
Third, and most gruesome of all was the killing of a Christian couple. They were tied to a tractor, dragged on the street, beaten and burnt to death by throwing them in a kiln, all these done on accusations of committing blasphemy. The main perpetrators are yet to be arrested. Pakistan, is facing world-wide condemnation and wants to be seen as doing something on this.
Fifth, it was the arresting of two shias by a head constable and charging them with blasphemy.
Hazaras, hindus, christians and shias have all been targeted and victimized, and all within 2 weeks, and four of these have happened in one week.
Pakistan may do or pretend to do something in the case of the christian couples who were accused of committing blasphemy, tortured and burnt to death. They may do so, only because they are facing condemnation from world community. If Pakistan acts only on this and not on others, we can all see the pretense of the government and all its institutions and also the prevailing mindset of most of its population.
If there is a mob action because of proper and rightful actions by government and authorities, it will be the most in the case of providing justice to the shias followed by providing justice to the hindus. Considering the degree of gruesomeness of these acts, providing justice in the killings of christian couple should be top of the list.
I do not think that there would be any mob action if the leaders of political parties, educated, middle-class and upper class sections of the population do not support such a reaction from the mobs. We saw how a lone Sikandar, with his wife and two children can hold up Islamabad for hours when the media, politicians, educated, middle class and well-to-do class remained a spectator and were also being entertained by it. We also saw how even a crowd of a million demonstrating each day for over 3 months in PTI and PAT protests could not dislodge the government. The government can act when or if it wants to and it acted with firmness and did not give in to the PTI and PAT demonstrators when its survival was threatened.