Police recover two women from traffickers. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: The capital’s police have claimed to have uncovered a human trafficking ring which used to force women into prostitution.
Police sources have revealed that the matter came to light after the traffickers threatened to kill an illegitimate child who was born at a private clinic within the remits of Khanna police station.
The source revealed that Shalimar police was redirected after an anonymous woman called the police helpline Rescue 15 informing them that a man was allegedly assaulting a woman in the Golden Heights Apartments in Sector F-11.
The Shalimar police rushed to the site and found a man, identified as Sheikh Abdul Rauf, beating a woman, identified as Suzy*. The man claimed that the woman was his wife and that he was beating her over a domestic dispute.
The police, though, arrested the suspect and brought the couple to the precinct where they recorded their statements.
In her statement, Suzy* disclosed that she hailed from Lahore while Rauf was from Karachi.
Contrary to the man’s claims, she stated that she was unmarried. She added that the suspect had created a fake marriage certificate (nikkah nama). To the surprise of police officers, she went on to claim that the suspect had other such fake marriage certificates with other women as well.
She went on to say that Rauf was running a powerful, and organised trafficking ring which brought young girls from different cities to Islamabad on the pretext of providing them lucrative employment or even marriage. But once here, they were forced into prostitution.
Trapped in the deceit, the girls were then addicted to the drugs so that they could not run away and become more pliant when they are pimped out.
Suzy claimed that the traffickers were quite powerful and completely capable of causing harm in case any of the women tried to flee.
ASI Ahsan Ullah, who is investigating the case, said that they had raided a private clinic near Paradise Complex within the remits of the Khanna police station and found out that Suzy’s sister was under treatment.
He assured that the case would be investigated on complete merit.
*NAME CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITY
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2019.
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