Hundreds protest against bail of alleged rapist

Local landlord allegedly raped a 19-year-old girl, put nude photos online.

RAJANPUR: A woman has threatened to commit suicide if the authorities fail to take action against a local landlord for allegedly raping her.

Fazlipur resident Noreen* recently threatened to commit suicide if the authorities concerned refused to take action against Sardar Jehanzaib alias ‘Chand Khan Dareeshak’ for raping her and uploading nude pictures of her on the internet.

Hundreds of people including Noreen’s parents and relatives protested and blocked the Indus Highway for hours on Sunday. The protests took place because the police refused to arrest accused Chand Khan after Noreen’s relatives made several attempts to file a case against the accused. “They won’t touch him because he is a close relative of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q)’s senior Leader Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareeshak,” Noreen’s cousin Sherayar Zia said.

The protestors chanted slogans against the Dareeshak family and said that the police had finally lodged an FIR against Chand Khan on November 2 but they had refused to arrest the accused. Sherwani said that the accused had put up Noreen’s nude pictures on the internet and people were spreading the pictures through multimedia service (MMS) messages.

A local resident Iftikhar, who participated in the protest, said, “We need to consider every girl in this constituency as our daughter and sister and everyone needs to stand against such conduct.” Noreen, a BA student, and her father Salamat lodged an FIR in PS City Rajanpur against Sardar Chand on November 2. According to FIR number 508, Chand has been charged under Sections 469, 496A and 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Noreen, in the FIR, stated “One year ago Chand called me on my personal cell number and introduced himself as the head of a local fake NGO which was working to support female students by funding their education.”
“He offered me a job at the NGO but I turned it down. Six months ago Chand called me again and asked for a list of names of deserving female students.

He also insisted that I visit his office in Rajanpur city,” she said. Noreen said that when she went to his office there was no set up and all she saw were four gunmen. “I asked him where the other staff was and he told me they were sitting inside the other room and immediately locked the doors,” she told the police. Noreen stated that he raped her and took pictures. “He said that if I went to the police or refused to keep seeing him the pictures would be uploaded and promised to marry me within a few months,” she said.  Noreen said that she lived in a conservative society and was fearful of the stigma her parents would face if the photos were released. “He blackmailed me and I had to keep seeing him for six months. I reminded him of his promise to marry me but he dodged the issue,” she said.

Nearly 15 days ago when Noreen demanded a Nikah, Chand Khan called her and threatened that if she refused to come to him, he would upload her pictures on the internet. Noreen told her parents and brother, they went to Chand Khan and demanded that he leave Noreen alone but Chand threatened them. “He said that the Dareeshak family had political backing and no one would touch him,” Noreen brother said. She stated that her parents approached Nasrullah Dareeshaks’ son former district nazim Sardar Ali Raza Khan Dareeshak but he refused to meet them.

Noreen said that in the third week of October, Chand called her and directed her to a website where she found her nude pictures.

Noreen’s father Salamat told The Express Tribune that that his daughter was first in the area to raise her voice against a feudal. He alleged that Chand has raped dozens of other innocent girls in the area and that others had backed down due to his political standing. “If the authorities do not take action against him, he will continue,” Salamat said.

Chand Khan, former UC nazim of Jahanpur, said that his rivals who belonged to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were trying to trap him in a baseless case. He denied all the allegations and said that he had gotten protective bail from the Lahore High Court and would soon get an interim bail from the sessions court in the district. “The PML-N has been trying to force the Sardar Nasrullah group to leave the field for the next election and they are trying to implicate me as well,” he said.

Police records in the Rajanpur district state that 16 other FIRs of various cases have been lodged against Chand Khan. A local official said that every time Chand was rescued by his relative mentor Sardar Nasrullah Khan. District police officer (DPO) Sohail Zafar Chatha said that the police had consistently raided various places to arrest him but he disappeared from the scene. “Now he is on protective bail and is being protected,” Chatha said.

*Names of the victims and her family members have been changed to protect their identity.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2010.