Opposition urges JIT over student harassment, deaths

Haleem says many of the cases reported as suicide are actually murder

KARACHI:

Sindh Assembly Opposition Leader Haleem Adil Sheikh has expressed serious concerns about the harassment and death of female students in the hostels of educational institutions of the province.

He urged the federal government to form a high-level joint investigation team (JIT) to thoroughly probe the increasing harassment and "murders" of girls in hostels.

He believed that the cases labelled as suicides were, in fact, not so.

He was speaking to the media at the City Court building where he appeared for the hearing of a defamation case filed by Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani.

"I raise a voice for the rights of the people of Sindh and to expose the transgression and corruption of Sindh government ministers and leaders of the PPP. Nothing can prevent me from doing so," Haleem stated.

He reiterated that he was ready to face such cases to protect the honour of the daughters of Sindh and the rights and lives of the people of the province.

The opposition leader added that SSP Dr Rizwan, in an investigation report, charged Saeed Ghani of patronising drug dealers, while TV channels accused him of land grabbing.

"The entire labour department was pointing fingers at him for receiving extortion," he observed.

Sheikh said opposition lawmakers wanted to move a resolution in the Sindh Assembly to point out that girls were not even safe at educational institutes.

He added there were several cases of harassment surfacing day in and day out, but the move was blocked by Speaker Agha Siraj Durani.

"Nousheen Shah, Namrata Kumari, Naila Rind and other daughters of Pakistan were killed in hostels and their murders were portrayed as suicides," he alleged