26 September 2004	Sunday	10 Shaban 1425

ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: The Senate Committee on Human Rights on Saturday decided to set up a sub-committee of three senators to visit Multan and report on an incident of gangrape in Jalalpur in April and the inability of the law-enforcement agencies to recover two minor girls abducted in the incident.

The committee met under the chairmanship of Senator S.M. Zafar and was attended by members Khalid Ranjha, Nighat Mirza, Abida Saif, Mohammad Abbas Komaili, Muhim Khan Baloch, Farhatullah Babar and Dr Mohammad Said, says a press release.

Minister of State for Law, Justice and Human Rights Shahid Akram Bhinder, Advisor to Prime Minister for Women Development Nilofar Bakhtiar, secretaries of the ministries of interior, law and justice, religious affairs, chairman Council of Islamic Ideology and senior officers of the relevant ministries were also present during the meeting.

In another decision, the committee urged the government to launch a public debate on electronic media on Hudood Ordinance to create public awareness of the laws, which militated against women and minorities.

The three-member committee tasked with reporting on the incident of gangrape comprises Dr Khalid Ranjha, Farhatullah Babar and Muhim Khan Baloch.

The committee was set up after senior police officers from Punjab made a presentation before the committee on the incident in Jalalpur, Multan, but failed to convince it as to why they had failed to recover the two abducted girls.

The incident revolves round the complaint of Abdul Ali Shah of Jalalpur Pirwala, Multan, complaining that on the night between April 9 and 10, this year, four culprits entered his house and abducted two of his daughters and a niece.

While one of the women, Uzma Bibi, was recovered, the other two girls, Rabia Bibi and Mehwish, both 13 years old, had yet not been recovered.

The press reports of the incident prompted the committee to take note of it and direct the inspector general of Punjab police to appear before it for a briefing.

The Senate committee also recorded the statement of Uzma Bibi and her close relatives who were especially invited by the committee for the purpose.

Justice (Retd) Majida Rizvi, the chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women on Hudood Ordinance, briefed the committee on how the ordinance militated against women and minorities.