Teenager’s alleged rapists arrested

DPO vows justice for the victim

HARIPUR: Five men, including some police officers, have been arrested for the alleged sexual assault of a boy. A case was registered against the men on the orders of a senior officer.

The move comes after the Haripur District Police Officer Khalid Hamdani had vowed in a news conference to take strict legal action against the perpetrators and to ensure justice for the boy.

Last week, a Khalabat resident had approached the Haripur police claiming that his son M* had allegedly been gang-raped by six men. Some of the perpetrators, they claimed, were police officers.

A case had been registered based on a medical report of the 15-year-old boy.

“We had formed teams for raiding the suspected hideouts of these men,” DPO Hamdani said.

The DPO vowed to show no restraint for those arrested, adding that they did not see them any different because of their uniform, insisting that everyone was equal before the law.

“We will try to ensure exemplary punishment for the culprits; their heinous act has shamed the entire department. We have already put all the accused behind  bars” Hamdani said.

According to sources, father of the victim was left clutching straws when his attempts to file a complaint at the Khalabat Township police station failed. However, the police were prompted to take action after a senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader of the area got the party’s chairman Imran Khan on a phone.

“Imran instructed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa inspector general of police to conduct an inquiry into the incident,” the sources said, adding that following the orders, Hazara deputy inspector general of police rushed to Haripur where he nabbed the suspects within 30 hours.

The suspects include an officer of the K-P police elite force apart from other police officers. The sources added that some officers had reportedly tried to save their comrades.

*NAMES WITHHELD TO PROTECT IDENTITY

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2018.