Assault: Daharki woman loses fight against rape, succumbs to burns

The woman’s daughter had died after the two were raped and burned

SUKKUR: A woman from Daharki died on Tuesday from the same burn injuries that killed her 10-year-old daughter nearly two months ago. The two were allegedly raped and then set on fire by some men in Mochi village.

A* and her daughter, S*, used to make patchwork quilts and sell them in different villages around Daharki. On February 28, the two went to the nearby Mochi village where the two were sexually assaulted and then set on fire by three Mochi men — Noor Hassan, Hashim and Gul Hassan. The mother and the daughter were referred to Shaikh Zayad Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan but S died on the way.

According to some Daharki-based journalists, A had claimed that the accused men forced them to stay in the village overnight as the weather was bad. At night, the men gave them tea after which they lost their senses and took advantage of them. “The men assaulted us, tied us with ropes and then set the hut on fire,” she said.

A said that some residents shifted them to a Daharki hospital but the doctors told them to go to Rahim Yar Khan hospital as they did not have the facilities to treat burns. S died on the way to Rahim Yar Khan while A claimed that she fell unconscious. “I gained consciousness after 28 days and then came to Daharki to inform my husband and son about the incident,” she claimed.

After an FIR was lodged, a Daharki civil judge and judicial magistrate, Attaullah Shaikh, visited A’s house to record her statement. On his directives, the woman was shifted to a Daharki hospital for treatment but, since there is no burns ward in upper Sindh, she was referred to Civil Hospital, Karachi. According to her son Khadim Hussain, this is where she breathed her last on Tuesday morning. Her body was brought to Daharki and she was buried in her native graveyard in Reti. He refused to share details of when she was taken to Karachi.

Meanwhile, the police suspect that her son tried to strike a deal with the men accused in the FIR. “They no longer seem interested in getting the culprits arrested,” said Khenjoo police station SHO Waheed Murad Pathan. The nominated men have left their homes and gone into hiding.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2015.