Trail of violence: Woman from Abbottabad gang-raped

Police says medical report has not been received yet

ABBOTABAD: A woman from Abbottabad who had eloped with her lover was gang-raped. She has opted to return to her parent’s house after the incident. An official of City police station said an 18-year-old woman went missing ten days ago. She had allegedly eloped from her house with the help of her cousin. The woman was allegedly raped repeatedly after that. On her father’s complaint, a criminal case under Section 365-B of Pakistan Penal Code was registered against Azmatullah, Sifatullah, two Afghan refugees and the woman’s cousin Noman.

According to City Cadet SHO Hafiz, the police found her in Karachi on August 1 and presented her before the court of duty magistrate in Abbottabad the next day.

While recording her statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the woman said she had affair with Azmatullah and eloped with him with the help of her cousin Noman. The accused took her to Karachi where Azmatullah solemnised court marriage with her. However, Siffatullah, Tehsil Khan and Noman raped her repeatedly during her stay in Karachi. The court sent her to Darul Aman for one night and ordered for a medical examination to be performed. The woman was once again presented before the judicial court magistrate on Wednesday where the girl opted to leave the court with her parents.

The police said the medical report has yet to be received. Two of the accused, Tehsil Khan and Noman, have been arrested and sent to prison on judicial remand while Azmatullah obtained bail before arrest.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2016.