05 December 2004	Sunday	22 Shawwal 1425

PESHAWAR, Dec 4: Six former staffers of the City Government Higher Secondary School No 3 for Boys charged in the sexual abuse case of students were arrested on Saturday after their pre-arrest bail petition was dismissed by Additional District and Sessions Judge, Shahid Khan.

The court pronounced that the accused might be innocent but according to record they did not deserve to be given the benefit of pre-arrest bail.

The arrested staffers are: teachers Himayatullah, Abdul Qayyum and Mubarak Ahmad; clerks Shahnawaz and Muhammad Humayun; and watchman Abdul Baseer.

However, the court granted pre-arrest bail to former headmasters Syed Hussain Shah, Haji Abdur Rasheed and Gul Nawaz. At present Syed Hussain Shah is nazim of the union council Nauthia.

The FIR against the nine was registered at the Kabuli police station on Oct 23 in the light of a judicial inquiry conducted by Additional District and Sessions Judge Jamal Khan. The judicial inquiry had held all the nine accused responsible for the sexual abuse of students. The inquiry had found that six of the staffers were directly involved, whereas the rest were accused of abetment as despite knowing that the shameful practice was going on in the school they had kept silent.

Advocate Sattar Khan appeared for petitioners and argued that they were falsely charged in the case. He said the case was based on hearsay. He contended that not a single victim had been identified in the record and said there was no legal evidence against the petitioners. He said the inquiry officer in the judicial inquiry was made complainant in the FIR and there was no aggrieved person who had come forward against the petitioners.

The public prosecutor argued that the judicial inquiry officer had recorded evidence of about 34 persons. He said the abuse of students had become talk of town.