SUKKUR: It has been more than 50 days that Muhammad Paryal went to the Hingorja police station to register an FIR against the dacoits who broke into his house to steal money and other valuables.
It wasn’t till the police arrested two suspects that they found out he had been hiding something.
After going through cell phones of the men they arrested, the police found videos which showed that not only had the dacoits robbed the family blind but had also raped four women including Paryal’s niece.
The incident
On the night of May 25, seven men broke into Paryal’s house in Memon Mohallah in Rasoolabad Town. At the time of the incident, he was the only man at home with five women of the family – his mother, his wife, two sisters-in-law and a niece.
At first the dacoits took all the cash, gold, other valuables and then proceeded to gang rape four of the women. Paryal’s mother was spared due to her age.
When Paryal informed relatives and neighours about what happened the next day, they told him to go register the FIR but not mention anything about the gang rape as it had caused ‘dishonour’ to the family. Paryal did what he was told and lodged an FIR against seven unknown men for robbing his house.
A couple of days later, the police arrested two suspects identified as Rafiq Sahito and Saleem Sahito.
During the investigation, they were going through the suspects cell phones and found videos of the gang rape. They went and asked Paryal if the women of his family had been raped as the act had been recorded on the perpetrators’ cell phones.
Presented with the footage of the incident, Paryal decided to lodge another FIR against seven men, including Saleem Sahito, Rafiq Sahito, Aijaz Machi and Laloo Samito.
The second FIR was lodged more than a month ago and the police have yet to arrest the men nominated in it.
While talking to The Express Tribune, Paryal said that he was disappointed with the police’s performance and added that he had filed a constitutional petition at the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench. He claimed that the court had summoned the home secretary, Sindh IG, Sukkur DIG, Khairpur SSP and Hingorja police station SHO to appear before the court on July 21 and state why the police had failed to nab the culprits. He added that the culprits had ‘dishonoured’ his family and all he wanted now was justice.
Paryal claimed that office bearers of the Sindhi Memon Association had held press conference in Hingorja and demanded that the men should be arrested immediately.
According to him, the association also decided to stage protests outside Karachi Press Club on July 17. The women of his family, he claimed, will also participate in the protest. Khairpur SSP Usman Ghani was not available for comments.
Taking notice
Sindh home secretary Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi took notice of the gang rape in Rasoolabad. He instructed the police officers to arrest the accused immediately, and take strict action against them in accordance with the law. Abbasi directed the police officers to take special measures to ensure justice to the affected family. Moreover, he sought a report regarding the incident from the police.
