Forced to bring her rapist’s child into this world

SHC orders arrest of kidnapper who kept woman in captivity for five months.

SUKKUR: A judge has ordered the arrest  of a man accused of kidnapping, raping and impregnating a woman who has just given birth to a baby girl.

The suspect, Imran Shah, kept S, a resident of Rashdi Mohalla, Pir Jo Goth, in illegal detention for five months before she managed to escape. On Monday, the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench, comprising Justice Faisal Arab, issued orders for Imran’s arrest, after a constitutional petition was filed by S through her lawyer Shabbir Shar.

Shar told The Express Tribune told that the petition was filed on July 14 but no arrest followed. The SPO Khairpur was ordered to arrest Imran within a week and present him in court.

Meanwhile, S gave birth to a baby girl in Mustafai Hospital, Sukkur late Sunday night. She was taken back to Pir Jo Goth on Monday morning due to security reasons.

S’s brother-in-law and cousin, Zain Shah, told The Express Tribune that on February 7, Imran Shah and his armed accomplices raided S’s house. They kidnapped her at gunpoint and escaped.

“When we failed to find her, we went to Pir Jo Goth police station to file a complaint against Imran Shah, son of Syed Aftab Shah, but the SHO refused because Imran belongs to an influential family,” alleged Zain. He said that the family continued to ask the police to register an FIR but to no avail. However, on July 4, S managed to escape.

Quoting S’s story, Zain said that Imran took her to an undisclosed place, where he used to assault her frequently. During her captivity, S became pregnant. According to Zain, S was from a ‘purdah-observing family’. She hardly ever left the house and thus was not familiar enough with directions to be able to recall where Imran had kept her. She did say she was not taken too far from home. When she finally managed to escape, a passerby helped her find her way home.

Following the court orders, the police filed an FIR against Imran but have yet to arrest him.

Other kidnappings in Ghotki

At least 14 people have been kidnapped from Ghotki district in the last two months. Resident of Dad Leghari, Abid Khushk, was kidnapped on Saturday, while four days ago, Bashir Qambrani and his driver were kidnapped from near Ubauro.

Last week, a trailer driver, Abdul Faseh, and cleaner Abdul Wahid, both residents of Peshawar, were kidnapped from Chowk Mari. Roshan Kalhoro and Shakeel Kalhoro were kidnapped from Ghotki a couple of days back. Similarly, three persons, Shahabuddin, Niaz Khokhar and Ramzan, from Shafi Mohammad Awan village were also kidnapped by armed bandits.

DPO Ghotki Saqib Ismail Memon denied the kidnapping of 14 people and said that only five people have been kidnapped.

He said that people often try to frame their enemies in fake kidnapping cases by hiding one or the other relative and then blaming it on their opponents. The police, meanwhile, are trying to find the five missing persons, Memon added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2010.