Torture & deflection: 5 men torture labourer for ‘raping’ their sister

Neighbours say the girl had apparently tried to run away.

MULTAN:

Five men tortured a labourer for allegedly having raped a woman on Sunday.

According to residents in Tibba Sultanpur, five men tied a man to a tree and cut him with knives for allegedly raping a woman of their family. Locals in the area told police officials that the rape allegations were baseless and that the girl in question had been having an affair.

“Nearly everyone in the village knew that she had a relationship with a man named Imtiaz. A few days ago he ran away from here and there were rumours that she had tried to run away with him but her family had discovered their plan,” said Sultanpur resident Qari Shahram Naeem. Naeem told police that a few days after the incident the girl’s family blamed Tibba Sultanpur Chak166-WB resident Fahad Ali of having raped their sister. “He is a labourer who recently left their employ after a dispute. I don’t know the details but he hardly had anything to do with their family after he left and has been working at a brick kiln in a neighbouring town ever since,” he said.

Fahad Ali’s brother Rashid Ali told police officials that he had nothing to do with the family. “My brother wasn’t even in the same village, they dragged him here to blame him for something he hadn’t done. Everyone here knows that their sister tried to run away and they are trying to divert the blame on my brother,” he said.

Rashid Ali said that his brother had been brutally tortured. “They tied him to a tree and began cutting him open. They didn’t kill him but they tortured him until he was begging them to,” he said.

Nishtar Hospital attending Dr Ramzan said that Fahad had been brutally tortured. “He has deep gashes on his chest, neck and face. They also broke his arm and smashed a brick into his head. He is in a coma,” he added. Dr Ramzan said that a team of doctors was working on Fahad but that his condition was serious. “I am surprised he survived this far. Some of his wounds are septic,” he added.

Rashid Ali said that he had approached Multan Civil Lines Police to register a case but so far they had not done so. He accused Tibba Sultanpur Chak 166 WB residents Rafiq, Sarwar, Ajmal, Abdul Rehman and others for torturing his brother and tying him to a tree. “My brother was unconscious from the torture and they blackened his face and put shoes around his neck,” he said.

“We found the man tied up to a tree. First we thought he was dead but when we realized he wasn’t we rushed him to the hospital and called his family,” said farmer Siddique.

Siddique said that Sarwar and Ajmal had locked up their sister for four days.

“We want the police to investigate the situation because no one has heard from the girl. Her family nearly killed Fahad to turn attention away from the fact that Imtiaz has run away,” he said.

Civil Lines police inspector Haroon Javed said that he was looking into the matter and was collecting statements in this regard. “We are searching for Imtiaz and three of the accused,” he added. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2011.