Punjab police officers abusing power against women

Several cases of harassment, rape and torture have been reported

LAHORE:

Punjab Police officers have had a tradition of mistreating women for a while now.

Police officers have been accused of blatantly abusing power against female citizens.

Last week, SHO Hujra Shah Muqeem Anjum Zia was dismissed from service owing to allegations of rape, harassment, illegal detention and torture by a woman.

The complainant, while narrating her ordeal, said that she befriended Anjum when he was posted at a police picket a few years back. During all these years, they kept on meeting on and off wherever he was posted.

For the last few weeks, they had been arguing as she was insisting upon him to marry her or end the relationship as her family had been forcing her to do so.

She continued that Anjum asked her to visit him at the house where he had been living during his current posting. She knew the whereabouts of the place as she had visited it earlier.

She went there and found his cook and driver. When she called the official, he told her that he was busy in a meeting and asked her to wait there.

“Anjum came at midnight while carrying a leather strap,” she added. “The moment he arrived, he started physically torturing me with it,” said the victim.

She cried for mercy but to no use. While torturing, he forced her to drink liquor also. He also abused her cousin for being at the place and asked her to leave. She sat outside the room and after finding an opportunity, managed to flee from the scene.

The complainant added that all this time Anjum’s cook and driver remained silent and no one came to her help.

She alleged that Anjum also sexually assaulted her that night. However, she managed to flee from the scene.

Later, an inquiry committee was formed that found Anjum guilty. He has been dismissed from service on the basis of the inquiry committee report.

This is not an isolated incident in which a police officer befriended a woman during his professional posting or subjected a woman to severe torture after a relationship.

A few months back, a woman had presented an audio call before police officers in which a colleague of theirs had intimidated her to have a relationship with him.

He had her husband in custody. The officer had said that if she would cooperate, he would treat her husband well in custody.

Earlier, a police officer from Makhdoompura was accused by a woman of harassing her.

She said that the police officer conducted raids at her house and also took other steps to harass her. Later an FIR was registered against him.

Over a decade ago, notorious Inspector Abid Boxer had been accused of torturing and shaving the dancer Nargis.

The police department is said to be overtly man-dominated if not a misogynist organisation, according to many human and gender rights activists.

Any woman approaching the police is suspected to be characterless.

Prevalence of such a mindset and culture of impunity in the police department contributes to indulgence in such activities and blatant use of force when a relationship would turn sour.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2020.