Legal battle turns ugly amid rape, abduction accusations

DPO orders inquiry after social media video post by girl’s family

LAHORE:

The family of a teenage girl has claimed that the Sargodha police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against her father for allegedly kidnapping a man who had attempted to rape her. The family believes that the police did so to silence the father and cover up the attempted rape incident.

However, both sides have made allegations, and the police are investigating. The suspect is claiming to have been framed by the girl's family, while the family accuses the suspect of framing them. The father of the girl, a resident of Kot Momin tehsil, posted a video statement on social media with his wife and daughter. In the statement, he claimed that his daughter was in the fields near their home when Sarfaraz attempted to rape her.

The local people gathered and captured the suspect when the victim cried for help. The girl's father said that as they were waiting for the police, relatives of the suspect reached there and attacked them. The police later shifted the suspect to the local police station.

The family alleged that police, instead of helping them, had registered a case of abduction against their head, allegedly at the behest of some influential people.

On the other hand, Sarfaraz, said while talking to The Express Tribune that he could hardly walk because he had been shot a few years back.

He claimed that the family of the girl had falsely implicated him in an attempt to pressure him into dropping the case of being shot at, alleging that two men who had been sent to jail a month earlier for attacking him were involved. He maintained that he was just passing by when the family of the girl beat him up.

Sargodha DPO Faisal Kamran stated that according to initial investigations, the incident in question had been fabricated by the girl's family in an attempt to pressure the complainant, who was facing abduction and other charges. He said he had questioned girl through a female officer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2023.