Man booked for ‘harassing’ daughter

RAWALPINDI:

A 17-year-old girl has filed a case against her father for sexual harassment.

The victim, Fatima Batool, resident of Haroon Chowk, Sadiqabad, Rawalpindi, appeared before the court of Judge Rabia Saeed along with her counsel and recorded her statement under Section 164 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The police have arrested the accused father, Ziaul Haq, from his home.

According to Batool, she is the eldest of five siblings, including two brothers – Abdullah, 15, and Hashim, and two sisters – Imanah and Habiba. She is a BSc student at a local college, and her father started sexually harassing her when she started going to college. Her mother developed psychological problems due to her father’s behaviour. Frustrated with her father’s behaviour, her mother left their house in October 2023 to stay with her parents and returned after several months.

Fatima stated that her father’s harassment did not stop even after her mother returned. On April 18, 2024, her father attempted to rape her, and when she resisted, he beat her. The next morning, she told her mother everything, after which they went to their aunt’s house in Shangla, where they filed a complaint against the suspect with the assistance of her aunt Sarah and uncle Habib.

The police registered a case against Ziaul Haq under Section 377-B, and the court sent the case to the session judge for further proceedings. The investigation officer said it was a serious and highly immoral charge and that a thorough investigation would be conducted. He said a team of senior police officers will interrogate the complainant and the suspect. The accused will be presented in the court on Friday [today] to obtain his physical remand, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune May 3^rd, 2024.