December 15, 2003	Monday	Shawwal 20, 1424

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SARGODHA, Dec 14: Strike against the alleged humiliation of a woman councillor by close relatives of a ruling party MPA continued for the second consecutive day on Sunday in Shahnikdar, a town in Silanwali tehsil some 60 km from here.

Of the 36 accused, 12 have reportedly been arrested by Shahnikdar police.

This correspondent visited the town on Sunday and met the victim, Faiz Batool, who said over 50 armed people stormed her house on Friday at 5 pm and caused injuries to her daughter Kalsoom and grand daughter Iram. When she attempted to rescue them, the assailants reportedly inflicted injuries on her person and also tore her clothes. Later, they made her parade naked in a bazaar before throwing her in the shop of Mumtaz Kalayar. She alleged that MPA Khalid Kalayar and Tehsil Nazim Rana Munawar Ghaus were present in the town at the time of her humiliation and stopped the police from arresting the accused.

She told Dawn the attack was the outcome of a petty dispute when her husband was making a call from a local PCO and requested Haji Ahmed Sher Kalayar to reduce the volume of his cassette recorder.

She said an argument led to a scuffle between her husband and Ahmed Sher Kalyar. Later, the Kalayar party armed with lethal weapons stormed her house.

The complainant alleged that Shahnikdar police had resisted FIR after she approached the acting DPO.

When this correspondent met Mumtaz Kalayar, reported to be an elder of the Kalayar group, he said the woman was locked in a scuffle with some youngsters when he separated her. “I offered her tea and sent her home. She was neither paraded naked nor her clothes were torn.”. A police officer said that investigation was being carried out under the supervision of the SP Crimes. He identified eight of arrested as Faisal Kalayar, Safdar Kalyar, Ahmed Sher Kalayar, Amjad Ali Kalayar, Muhammad Sher Kalayar, Najam Ali Kalayar and Aurangzeb Kalayar. He said teams had been detailed to net the rest.

The officer who chose anonymity said that it was incorrect that the councillor had been forced to parade naked.

MPA Khalid Kalayr and Silanwali Tehsil Nazim Rana Munawar Ghaus were not available for comments.

Faiz Batool, who is stated be under pressure to reach a compromise with the accused, is the second woman humiliated by the accused. Their first prey was Kaneez Fatima whose hair were cut by the accused three months ago.

According to some locals, women are subjected to humiliation when men wanted to settle scores.

Meanwhile, various women organizations and public representatives have condemned the incident.

MPA Chaudhry Faisal Farooq Cheema expressed his concern over the humiliation of the councillor and said that it was a gross violation of human rights.

Ms Qaisra Ismaeel of the Women Welfare threatened agitation if the culprits were shown any leniency due to their influence. She was lent support by MPA Ms Zahida Sarfraz.