Silencing justice: Rape victim’s brother shot dead on court premises

Security breach being investigated; police say deceased was not supposed to be at court.

PESHAWAR:

Three assailants shot dead an alleged rape victim’s brother on court premises in Karak district, according to the police.

On October 14, Sakina* had accused 13 persons including three police officials of raping her.

After hearing both parties, the inquiry committee gave eleven recommendations including a DNA test of the victim and all the accused persons to ascertain the parentage of the foetus, revealed documents obtained by The Express Tribune on November 15, 2011.

Jehanzaib’s* murder has become another headache for the investigation team, with speculation that it would complicate the investigation of the rape case. However, officials denied this, saying that both cases were different in nature.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Home Secretary and inquiry committee chairperson Muhammad Azam Khan said the cases were totally different from each other. “The police had been directed to investigate security lapses, since the a murder on court premises is in itself a question mark.”

“I have written a letter to K-P police chief Akbar Khan Hoti to explain the security lapse,” he said “During the investigation of the rape case, the inquiry committee had directed the police to provided maximum security to the victim’s family.”

When asked about the instructions of the inquiry committee on the provision of security to the victim’s family, Karak District Police Officer (DPO) Sajid Muhammad was of the view that at the time of the incident, three police officials accused in the rape case were being produced before the court and that Jehanzaib’s presence there surprised them. “We are still providing security to Sakina’s family, but Jehanzaib was not supposed to leave his home without informing the police in advance due to security concerns. He had nothing to do with this case,” Saijid Muhammad said. An FIR has been registered by Jehanzaib’s brother Zafran Khan against three persons, he added.

“Three persons have been nominated in the FIR. Abdul Waheed is the brother of an accused ASI, the second one is Ibrahim, and the third one was not identified by name,” the DPO said. “Different teams had been constituted to bring the culprits to justice.” According to the Karak police, Jehanzaib was wanted by the police in seven different cases which include murder and kidnapping for ransom.

*Names have been changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2011.