Acid attack: Victims allege pressure to withdraw case

Police deny charge, say two more suspects arrested .

FAISALABAD:

A woman who was burnt by acid along wither two daughters on their way home from a bus stop on November 26 has complained that the police are reluctant in prosecuting the suspect, who is in their custody.

Shagufta Bibi*, a resident of Millat Town, said that she and her daughters 12-year-old Kiran* and 16-year-old Maria* would commit suicide if Kamran*, the suspect, was not prosecuted and punished according to the law. “Police have contacted me a couple of times and have asked me to withdraw the case,” she told The Express Tribune.

She said Kamran and his accomplices had intercepted them near the bus stop and thrown acid on them following an argument. “Maria had turned down his proposal for a relationship,” she said. Maria and Kamran had been colleagues at a factory, she added.

The three women were taken to Allied Hospital from where Shagufta and Kiran were later discharged as they recovered from their wounds. Maria is still under treatment. Dr Ali Naqi said the women had burns all over their body and the face.

He said recovery would have been difficult had there been a delay in bringing the three to the hospital. He said Maria too was recovering and would be discharged when she was well enough.

Shagufta alleged that the police were not serious in investigating the case. That was the reason, she said, they had not arrested other suspects.

Millat Town police, however, rejected the allegation that they had pressured the woman to withdraw the case. They said that considering the woman’s apprehensions about the investigation, the case has been transferred to the Crime Investigation Authority.

CIA Inspector Malik Yaqoob said they had arrested two more suspects on information provided by Kamran during interrogation.

However, he refused to identify the suspects.

*Names have been changed to protect the victims’ identity

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2011.