Ghotki tragedy: Minor girl burns to death after ‘sexual assault’

Mother of girl regains consciousness after four weeks

SUKKUR: Ghotki police registered an FIR on Monday against three men accused of subjecting a woman and her minor daughter from the Menhoon Mahar village to sexual assault a month ago and then leaving them to die in a burning hut. The daughter could not survive.

The woman’s son, Mohammad Sadiq Solangi, filed a petition on Saturday in the Ghotki district & sessions court.

Solangi said in the petition that his mother and 12-year-old sister stitched rilli (patchwork) quilts and sold them in neighbouring villages.

“On February 28, my mother and sister went to the nearby Mochi village, where they were sexually assaulted and set on fire by three men,” reads the petition.

He said his mother and sister were taken to the Shaikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan, where the minor succumbed to her injuries.

After hearing the petition, the court directed the police to register an FIR against the accused and conduct an investigation into the incident.

Daharki Civil Judge Hafiz Attaullah Shaikh has been appointed as inquiry officer and he would submit his report within three days.

Khenjoo SHO Iqbal Rajput, in whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, confirmed that an FIR had been registered against Gul Mochi, Hashim Mochi and Noor Hassan Mochi.

“So far we have neither met the woman in question nor the accused have been arrested,” said the officer. “Therefore, I cannot comment on the case.”

The mother’s version

Quoting the woman, some Daharki-based journalists said the accused had forced her to stay overnight in their village because of bad weather.

“At night the accused offered us tea, which was apparently drugged,” said the woman. “We lost consciousness and they took advantage of the situation: they sexually assaulted us, bound us with ropes and set the hut on fire.”

She said some locals took her and her daughter to a Daharki hospital, but the doctors referred them to the Rahim Yar Khan hospital.

“My daughter succumbed to her injuries and I regained consciousness after four weeks, after which I came to Daharki and told my husband and son about the incident.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2015.