Hospital staff grilled, search operation carried out, some video footage missing. PHOTO: FILE
Almost 72 hours after a five-year-old girl’s horrific rape shook the nation’s conscience, police authorities said on Monday they were pursuing all leads in the investigation as multiple teams interrogated hospital staff and conducted a search operation.
A Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) official, who is part of the investigation team, told The Express Tribune that the whole staff, along with the patients, who were present when the child was brought to the hospital, had been quizzed.
He said that police had detained Mughalpura resident Zafar as he resembled the man, seen in the CCTV footage, who dropped off the victim outside the hospital.
Police also recorded statements of a woman at the hospital, who belonged to Mandi Faizabad. The woman was in the hospital for her daughter’s medical treatment at the time the five-year-old was dropped off. Sources said that the woman was the first to identify the child lying there in an unconscious state and had informed the police in-charge of the hospital, who in turn, asked the hospital guard to take the child to the pediatric ward.
Lahore police kept denying, until the CCTV footage released to the media by public relations directorate, showed the girl being dropped outside the hospital by an unidentified man. However, the video footage has missing links. The video shows the victim in a comparatively better condition than when she is being dropped off by the man, but later when the woman spots her, she is in an unconscious state. The footage for the time in between is missing.
The father of the victim, while talking the media outside the hospital, demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice without any leniency.
Doctors say the girl is recuperating. “She is out of danger, but is still in intensive care,” Services Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Rehana Malik said, adding that psychologically, the girl was feeling heavy repression.
“She is being nourished with light diet and juices, however the timetable for the next surgery cannot be determined,” she added.
Another rape case
A 24-year-old man was arrested for kidnapping and raping a six-year-old girl in the Sundar area of Lahore.
Police officials said that the father of the victim, Ashraf Ali, a worker at a brick kiln in the area, had filed a complaint regarding his daughter’s absence two days ago. The child was recovered by the police near her house in an unconscious condition, following which medical examinations confirmed that the girl had been sexually abused.
The victim said that Muhammad Boota had abducted her and sexually molested her. After lodging an FIR, police arrested the accused from his friend’s house in the locality.
Meanwhile in the Mustafabad area, a four-year-old girl was reported missing. The father of the girl, a jeweller, nominated his neighbour Iqbal, accusing him of being the kidnapper.
Faisalabad gang rape case
The Faisalabad gang rape victim is still under treatment in the Allied Hospital for the third consecutive day, but doctors pointed out that she was recovering and was out of danger.
“She is conscious and fully alert, however for her mental alertness and stability, doctors believe she should be kept under observation for another 24 hours,” said Allied Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Rashid Maqbool.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2013.
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Sexual frustration is stimulated by the fact that media is showing woman as an object rather than a complete person who has feelings and needs to be treated with respect. Child pornography is becoming so easily accessible due internet. As a society we must see where we are heading.