Violence against women: Rape suspect bites his tongue as ‘penance’

Girl was home alone when Amjad Khan*, 45, scaled the wall of their house and carried the girl to his home.

FAISALABAD:

A man accused of raping a girl on Saturday, allegedly confessed to the crime and then bit the tip of his tongue “as penance for his crime”, police said on Sunday.

The victim’s maternal grandmother told media that she had brought her 8-year-old granddaughter from Harappa to live with her at Mohallah Chah Fateh Muhammad, Kamalia, six months ago after her mother passed away. She said the girl was a student of grade two, she was home alone when Amjad Khan*, 45, scaled the wall of their house and carried the girl to his home.

She said he raped the girl there but her cries attracted several neighbours who gathered in front of his house. The neighbours broke the door to enter the house but Khan fled the scene, she said.

They found the girl lying unconscious.

She was taken to Toba Tek Singh district headquarters hospital where the doctors later said her condition was serious.

Kamalia Saddar Station House Officer Muhammad Afzal said they had managed to arrest Khan. He said Khan had confessed and said he had repented. Khan later bit on the tip of his tongue hard as “penance”.

Afzal said the police were waiting for the child’s medical examination report.

*Name of the suspect has been changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2014.