Teenage girl allegedly raped by uncle

Police say orphan victim was cornered and assaulted at gun point

RAWALPINDI:

A 14-year-old orphan girl was allegedly raped by her uncle in the Gujar Khan area of Rawalpindi. The perpetrator is said to be a police officer. A case has been registered against the accused and investigation has been started.

According to the report filed with the police, the mother of the victim, a widow and a resident of Beul, stated she lives with her mother-in-law and brother-in-law in her late husband’s house along with her four daughters.

She explained that the accused, Obaidur Rahman, a 35 to 36-year-old man, who is the husband of her late spouse’s sister, would occasionally visit their house. She said that he had come over yesterday when she and her daughters were alone in the house.

She further stated that she was busy cleaning wheat grains on the roof of the house when the accused, seeing that there was no adult inside the house, took her 14-year-old daughter, who is a student of Class IX, to the washroom and threatened her at gunpoint, saying that as a police officer, he could put away her mother and sisters in jail. The accused then raped the girl, threatened her and ran away.

The victim’s mother stated that when she came down after finishing her work, she found her daughter weeping and scared. Despite being asked again and again, her daughter did not divulge anything out of fear and remained silent. Even the next morning she could not have breakfast as she kept crying.

Upon further pressurisation by her mother, the girl eventually spoke up and explained that her uncle had been harassing and assaulting her for a long time, but she had kept silent because he would threaten her. The mother of the victim said that the accused had committed a serious crime, and that legal action should be taken. The police have registered a case, but the accused has yet to be traced down.

In this regard, the spokesperson of the police, when contacted, confirmed that the accused is posted in the Rawalpindi Police, while SHO Malik Kashif said that the accused is currently on the run, and that raids are underway to arrest him.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2024.