Constable confesses to rape

SSP Investigation Zulfiqar Hameed informs LHC that Constable Javed Bhatti has confessed to raping a handicapped woman.

LAHORE: The senior superintendent of police (SSP) (Investigation) Zulfiqar Hameed informed the Lahore High Court on Friday that Constable Javed Bhatti has confessed to raping a handicapped woman by taking her three children hostage.

Chief Justice (CJ) Khawaja Muhammad Sharif ordered the SSP to submit Bhatti’s case to a court within 14 days. The SSP also informed the court that departmental action against Sub Inspector (SI) Mian Aslam had been initiated.

The SSP’s report also said that Bhatti had been sent to jail after the court granted him judicial remand.

On the last hearing on September 20, a superintendent of police (SP) had submitted a report which termed the rape allegations as baseless.

The report had said that the woman had concocted a ‘rape’ story to sabotage the arrest of her husband and others in a criminal case.

The SP had said that SI Aslam and Constable Bhatti had been suspended and the Civil Lines SP was inquiring into the matter.

The CJ had rejected the report and directed the SSP to hold a fresh inquiry into the matter and submit a report.

The CJ had taken suo motu notice of this matter after it was reported in the print media. The story had said that the woman, Bushra, was brought to Nawankot police station for interrogation as her husband and mother-in-law were in police custody on suspicion of kidnapping.

SI Aslam, Constable Bhatti and a driver, under the direction of District Superintendent Police (DSP) Nasir Hanif, dropped Bushra at her home in Baghbanpura. Bushra accused Constable Bhatti and the driver of orally abusing her on the way to her home.

She said, “Constable Bhatti knew that I was alone at home as my husband and mother-in-law were in police custody. He came to my house in the wee hours of the morning in an inebriated condition and raped me at gunpoint after taking my three children hostage.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2010.