Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Police absolve Rescue 1122 PRO of rape charges, points towards a ‘lobby’ for provoking matter


Muhammad Shahzad August 27, 2018
PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: The Anti-Gender Based Violence Cell Cantonment Division Police has absolved former Public Relations Officer (PRO) Rescue 1122 Jam Sajjad Hussain of the allegations of rape of an emergency medical technician (EMT).

The investigation report, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, contained the polygraphic test report of the complainant Saima Javed which stated that complainant could not be “confirmed as truthful” in light of the questions about the intercourse by the accused against her will. She also could not prove her visit to Ghazi Road apartment of the accused.

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It added the matter seemed to be the result of conspiricies of a lobby inside Rescue 1122 because the two parties had filed cases in different courts against each other. Besides, there were rumours in the department on replacing the accused with another PRO, the report added.

However, the in-charge investigation of the cell Sadia Mehboob said that they were awaiting DNA report for the final opinion. The accused was on pre-arrest bail and the matter was in the court to be decided.

On June 11, 2018, the complainant had registered an FIR with Defence A police station against the accused under rape charges. In her statement, she said that she was posted at Rescue 1122 LOS Headquarters in October 2016. The accused person, working as a PRO there, called her on October 21, 2016, and asked to come to his flat in DHA to discuss official work. When she reached there, the accused forcefully assaulted her against her will, made a video and started blackmailing her by threatening to share it on the internet. He kept on assaulting and blackmailing her through different means but she kept silent.

The matter was forwarded to the Anti-Gender Crime Cell for investigation. They investigated the matter seriously and delicately, the report stated. Police investigated the employees of Rescue 1122 Ghazi Road station. They also included senior officers from the department into the investigation. Posting charts of the accused and the complainant were examined and the victim was repeatedly instructed to present the witnesses that could prove her visit to the flat. But she failed. She also did not present her cell phone for data recovery.

The witnesses presented by the victim did not confirm her visit to the apartment but only talked about a few SMSs. The complainant also could not present the SMSs before the investigators. Police also tried to acquire call records but could not because the incident took place over a year and a half ago. On analysing the posting chart of both, it came forth the complainant was not appointed with the accused person.

As far as the background of the case was concerned, the complainant had filed an application before Defence A police in January this year. Area police had sought permission from the area magistrate to conduct a medical examination. The magistrate had denied the permission stating that the incident was 15 months old and the victim had not tried to register a complaint during the period.

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In March 2018, the complainant had filed an application to register an FIR against the accused person before an additional sessions judge. The application was dismissed by the judge stating that neither the complainant nor her counsel had appeared to pursue the matter despite repeated calls.

In June 2018, Javed had filed an application before Women Ombudsperson Punjab. She had also filed applications against other officers in the department. The copies are available with The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2018.

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