Purported faith healer arrested in maid’s rape case

Victim aged 16 kept in confinement for four months

CHAK JHUMRA:

A spiritual healer accused of raping a 16-year-old maid in the Chak Jhumra area has been arrested.

A police spokesman said on Monday that the girl worked in the house of Pir Hafiz Shakeel at Chak 188RB Nallaywala. The accused allegedly subjected her to sexual assault for more than four months in addition to detaining her in the house illegally.

The girl managed to escape from the illegal detention and narrated her ordeal to her parents who approached the police.

A medical report proved that her pregnancy was a result of rape.

On receiving information about the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered action in ten case.

The police had conducted raids and arrested the suspect, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, Punjab Women Protection Authority Chairperson Hina Pervaiz Butt visited the Women Gender-Based Violence Unit (WGBVU) and met the relatives of the victim.

She assured the victim of justice at all cost.

The SSP investigation briefed Hina Butt about the WGBVU and said that the police had conducted a medical examination of the victim.

City Police Officer (CPO) Kamran Adil had constituted a special team for the investigation.

A day earlier, Punjab Social Welfare Minister Sohail Shaukat Butt had taken strict notice of the incident of abuse of the domestic worker by the spiritual healer in Chak Jhumra.

He stated that such heinous crimes would not be tolerated under any circumstances and the affected family would be provided all possible legal and moral support.

The minister had instructed the police to leave no stone unturned in the investigation of the case and ensure that the suspect was swiftly brought to justice.

Earlier in May, a man allegedly raped a six-year-old girl at Chak 65-GB of tehsil Jaranwala of Faisalabad district.

Complainant Ibrar alleged in his FIR that his daughter went to play with children in the house of the suspect in the neighbourhood who was alone at home. He forcibly took her into a room where he raped her and also tortured her when she resisted.

In a press release, City Police Officer Kamran Adil claimed that the accused had been arrested and the child was shifted to the THQ hospital for treatment.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had hinted at increasing the punishment for the convicts in rape cases. She stated this on Tuesday while taking notice of the rape of a minor girl in Jaranwala tehsil.

“The accused who brutalised the innocent girl should be severely punished,” said the chief minister.

With additional input from APP