By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR:A woman member of the National Assembly (MNA) from the provincial capital will take up the issue of the gang rape of a teenage girl in her village and avoidance of registration of first information report by the police with President Asif Ali Zardari, a source disclosed. The incident occurred in Kanday Arbaban of Tehkal village, the native town of Federal Communication Minister Arbab Alamgir. Alamgir’s spouse, Asma, a vocal member of the National Assembly, was angry at the incident and delaying tactics used by the cops of Tehkal Police Station in registering an FIR. A senior police official of the capital city hinted at taking strict action against the station house officer (SHO) concerned and other staff if they had avoided the registration of the FIR.
Saeedur Rahman, a resident of the Kanday Arbaban in Tehkal, had approached the police concerned on Sunday with a complaint that his 14-year-old daughter, Seema, was gang-raped by armed men, who broke into their single-room mud-house at around 1:30 am. The poor family, originally from Tangi district of Charsadda, lives in a single-room house in Kanday Arbaban. Apart from Saeed, the eight-member family includes his wife, four daughters and two sons.
The victim girl, in her teens, is the eldest among sisters. Her father is a poor labourer while her mother works in the house of a well-off family. Seema appeared before a judicial magistrate on Monday to record her statement. The cops did not let the victim and her family members to talk to the media. “I was abused by six to seven people after they put a cloth in my mouth so that I could not cry. I don’t know any of them but if the government failed to provide me justice, I myself would search for those beasts,” stated a visibly shocked Seema.
The case took a new twist on Monday when Habibur Rahman, a real uncle of the victim, and his two sons, Kifayat and Hidayat, were charged in the case. “One of the two charged cousins had proposed Seema for marriage but the family had rejected the proposal. They wanted to avenge the refusal and for that they decided to molest the girl,” a police official claimed, adding that raids were being conducted and the accused would be arrested soon.
“After breaking into our house and holding the entire family hostage at gunpoint, the attackers collected Rs175,000 cash, 16 prize bonds of Rs1,500 denomination, one tola of gold and two cellular phones before assaulting Seema,” Saeed had told the police on Sunday. It was learnt that the poor labourer had got the money after selling his family house in Tangi. As the FIR was registered after almost 16 hours, the medical test of the victim was also conducted quite late at the Khyber Teaching Hospital where, according to sources, it was found that the girl was abused by more than four persons. Another examination was conducted in the Khyber Medical University, and the result is expected today (Tuesday).
Source: The News
Date:4/21/2009
