Ghotki woman shares harrowing ordeal

ISLAMABAD: A 28-year-old resident of Ghotki Sindh, has come to Islamabad to seek justice from the Supreme Court after she claims to have suffered atrocities by her in-laws for the last few years.

Talking to The Express Tribune, she said she was abducted and gang raped by her in-laws after being divorced from her husband.

Several months ago, the woman lodged an FIR against her brother-in-law and his friends for the crime, but is still awaiting action by the police.

“The police have done nothing to catch the perpetrators,” she said, adding that even her children had been forcibly taken away from her.

The woman was married to Ghulam Mohammed when she was 18. After six years of marriage, questions began to arise about her husband’s “homosexuality,” she said. He would also force her to have sex with his guests. When she refused, he ultimately divorced her.

On April 26 this year, her brother-in-law Haji Noor Din and his accomplices Khan Mohammad, Ahmed Ali and Irfan Khan along with others abducted and raped her for five days.

“I was given drugs and after regaining consciousness, I found myself at Darul Aman in Multan,” she said. “My brother came to set me free and also lodged an FIR against those criminals. But even after 15 days the police failed to submit the challan in the court,” she added.

The woman said that the medical examination ordered by the police proved that she was gang raped, drugged and physically abused. The report was handed over to a judge in Ghotki. “He referred the case to Third Additional Judge Mirpur Mathelo, who granted the accused party bail without even conducting a hearing,” she said.

“I want the culprits to be put behind bars,” she said. “I want my children back and their father to provide for their expenses.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2010.