Family protests rape and abduction of two sisters, FIR delay

Two armed men abduct and rape Farah,16, and Saira, 14 before dumping them in the fields in Jaranwala

LAHORE:

Two women were abducted and raped before they were dumped in the fields in Jaranwala, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Amjad Masih*, father of the victims, told The Express Tribune that his daughters Farah, 16, and Saira, 14, had gone to relieve themselves in the fields on Tuesday evening when they were abducted by Azeem Dogar and Muhammad Shehbaz at gun point.

He said they were taken to Dogar’s dera at around 6 pm where they were raped at gun point.

Masih said the following day, some villagers informed him that his daughters had been found lying unconscious in the fields. He said he took them to a hospital and moved a complaint with Jaranwala police.

He said initially police did not register the FIR.

On Wednesday afternoon, nearly 100 Christian residents blocked roads and protested against the police for not registering the FIR.

Masih said senior police officials intervened then and an FIR under Section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) was registered against Dogar and Shehbaz.

Masih said he had moved away from the area after he received death threats for pursuing the case.

Jaranwala Station House Officer (SHO) Muhammad Nasir said Dogar and Shehzad had been taken into custody and would be produced before a judicial magisterate on Friday.

Masiha Millat Party founder Aslam Pervaiz Sahotra condemned the incident, saying the police was not taking proper steps to protect Christians. He said police had backed away from registering an FIR against an influential land lord and had shirked its responsibility. “This is why people come out on streets to demand justice,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2014.