Demanding action: Survivor’s harrowing tale comes to the fore

Father of girl appeals for justice against accused

MINGORA: The father of a rape survivor appealed to the chief minister, chief justice and prime minister to provide justice for his daughter, who was abducted and abused by members of a powerful rival family from Kas area of Kalam tehsil.

According to Ghulam Sabir*, his 16-year-old daughter was abducted by Abdul Manan and Tahir Khan, sons of Ziarat Gul. They kept the teenager in their custody for more than 20 days, he said. “Both Manan and Tahir harassed my daughter and molested her several times,” he added.

The father said his daughter managed to return after escaping from her captors and the two immediately went to the police station. He accused SHO Saleem Yousuf of showing reluctance when registering the FIR against them.

“The police are siding with the rival family as one of their relatives is in service,”
Sabir said.

The victim, who was also present, told the media she belonged to an underprivileged family of Kas. She was despondent over not being able to get justice against the powerful family of the accused. Giving details of her ordeal, the teenager said she was abducted and held in Gujrat. She finally escaped and returned home after spending more than 20 days in captivity.

When contacted, Yousuf said the police are neither in cahoots with the accused nor are they refusing to entertain the complainants. He added the investigation team is in Gujrat and collecting evidence to substantiate the claims of the applicants.

“The police have registered an FIR and will be in a better position to take action once the investigation team returns after verifying the claims of Sabir and his daughter.” Yousuf added.

*Names changed to protect identity

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2016.