Harassment and theft: Police arrest man on charges of rape of foreign worker

The Filipina maid came to Pakistan nearly four years ago.

KARACHI:

The Clifton police have arrested a man for the alleged rape of a 30-year-old Filipina domestic helper, and are tracking down his accomplice.

On Thursday at around 1:15 am, M* was allegedly raped by a resident, Mumtaz Baloch, at her apartment in Gizri. The alleged rapist was accompanied by I*, who was also accused of attempted rape. Both the men escaped before the police arrived.

The day of the incident, M called up a male friend to go for ice-cream at Khadda market. As the two were walking, an inebriated Baloch, I and another man reportedly stopped them on the corner of the street.

“These men asked where we were going,” M’s friend J told The Express Tribune. “They pointed a gun at me, hurled abuses and said that they wanted to have sex with M.”

J claimed that the men became violent, held him by the collar and punched him. Screaming for help, M ran back to her apartment, only to be followed by Baloch and I. “M called me and told me that the men were knocking down her door. I called up 15 [the police helpline] and waited for them to come.”

By the time the police showed up at the apartment, Baloch had already raped her, J claimed, accusing the two men of taking away her iPad, a watch and other valuables.

“M is very shaken up. She can’t talk properly. She has stopped eating. She feels like she is dead.”

M and J reported the incident at the Clifton Police Station where an FIR No.47/2013 was filed on charges of rape, assault and robbery. M was unable to name anyone in the FIR but she told the police that she could recognise the alleged culprits by their faces since they lived on the same street as her.

Investigation officer inspector Irshad Karim said they arrested Baloch the next day from his house and M identified him. Baloch told the police that I was with him that night, but the police have yet to arrest him. “Both the accused have criminal records, and have case of creating riots and disturbances in the area,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, Baloch denies that he was involved. “I have five children. I am a respectable man,” he said from behind the bars from the Clifton police station. On Saturday, the police brought the arrested man, Baloch, to court, which sent him on remand till February 25.

Following the incident, rape survivor M, has left her home, and has moved into the house of a compatriot. In her broken English, M said over the phone that she will fight for justice. “I am fighting because I want Mumtaz to be punished. I am fighting because I want to save everyone who is abused by the powerful.”

According to the police, the woman works as a domestic helper for a family in DHA, where she stays for the whole week except for her day off. She came to Pakistan four years ago and earns around $1,500 a month.

A Jinnah hospital doctor, who examined her, said they could not confirm if M was raped until the laboratory report was accessed. The woman came to the hospital nearly 12 hours after the incident, he said. “We found some congestion on her organ, which suggests that there was sexual intercourse.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2013.