Sexual assault: Health worker threatens self-immolation if justice is not served

Alleges SHO Akhtar Naseer is protecting the culprits

PESHAWAR: A lady health worker, who was allegedly sexually assaulted, has warned that she would set herself on fire if she is not served with justice against her opponents.

Speaking at Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, the woman said she had been working as a health worker in Nowshera for 13 years. A few months back, she rented out her home to Ajab Khan Afridi, who hailed from the tribal belt. Afridi was against administering polio vaccine to children and used to criticise the nature of her job.

She added, “Ajab Khan asked me to leave the job. Meanwhile, I tried to convince him otherwise.” The woman alleged that Ajab Khan threatened her. “He repeatedly told me I’d have to face the consequences when Lashkar-e-Islam members come to know about the nature of the job.”

She informed that a few days later on August 28, some men disguised as policemen knocked at her door at around 2am.

“I asked my husband to call the police but before we could make a call, the suspects broke the door and entered into the house,” she said. “Five persons handcuffed them and looted valuables from the house. Later, they took me into another room and raped me.”

The woman said that police reached her house and took photos of the crime scene. “A case was registered the next day but the contents of the FIR did not match the version I told the police,” she said. “After three days of the incident, the police hesitated in issuing a copy of the FIR and also failed to carry out my medical tests.” She alleged that SHO of concerned police station, Akhtar Naseer, was protecting the culprits and threatened her to take the case back.

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