Heinous crime: Teen assaulted in front of mother

Family protests against police; demands they arrest the culprits without delay

BAHAWALPUR: Three men raped a 13-year-old, used matches to burn her mouth and eyes, strangled her and left her for dead at her house on Monday night, Zahirpir police said. She was taken to Shaikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan. Doctors treating her said she had not yet regained consciousness.

The girl’s mother, believed to have been forced to watch her daughter get raped, went into a shock and has been taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.

Police said Shabbir*, a resident of Qadirpur village, and two others had broken into 13-year-old Sumera’s house where she was alone with her mother on Monday night.

They had sexually assaulted her, burned her mouth and eyes with matches and strangled her, police said. When she fainted, the men had assumed that she had died and had fled.

Zahirpir police were informed about the incident. They registered a case against Shabbir and his accomplices on a complaint filed by a cousin of the child. Police are yet to make an arrest.

Advocate Raees Muhammad Ahsan Abid, an influential in the area, held a press conference on Tuesday where he condemned the incident and said he would plead the case for free. “If Zahirpir police do not arrest the culprits, I will meet the DPO and request him to extend cooperation in this regard.”

The girl’s relatives held a demonstration in front of the Zahirpir police station on Tuesday. They demanded that they arrest the culprits without delay. Some of her relatives threatened to commit suicide in front of the CM’s House if they did not get justice.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2016.