17 January 2005	Monday	06 Zilhaj 1425

KARACHI, Jan 16: Initial investigations conducted by the Balochistan police point out involvement of more than one person in the reported rape of a lady doctor in the Sui gas field hospital.

A preliminary investigation report submitted by the Naseerabad police, a copy of which was obtained by Dawn; also questions the role of Pakistan Petroleum officials at the Sui field and accuses them of covering up the tragic incident in a attempt to protect the real culprits.

The report says that PPL officials did not help police contact the victim, either to examine her or to record her statement, immediately after the incident. The report said that the lady doctor, Shazia Khalid, was shifted to Karachi against the police advice.

However, sources in the PPL management said the doctor had to be moved from Sui to ward off any danger to her life. "If it was a case of rape, we feared that culprits would further harm the victim to eliminate evidence against them," an official in the PPL told to Dawn.

The report criticized what it called, non-cooperation of PPL officials and said that they wanted police to believe that it was a case of burglary or theft. The company stuck to its stance while responding to communication (copies of which have also been obtained by Dawn).

The district police of Naseerabad had raised certain questions which had not been answered by the PPL management so far, well-placed sources said. Police also claimed that they had found some material evidence from the hostel room of the hospital to support its initial findings about the incident.

Police, the report said, also tried to record the statements of some nurses, two lady doctors of the hospital and other PPL staff on duty, but the company management did not cooperate with the investigating officials.

The letter of the PPL management to the district administration of Naseerabad stated that it was just an incident of theft. The letter signed by Pervez Jomula, manager of Sui Field, said that one person had broken into the room of the lady doctor some time after midnight and pressed her throat so severely that she felt suffocated. The person was carrying a pistol.

He beat her and tied her with a wire. He put a blanket on her and threw her on the bed. She could not see anything. He then collected Rs25,000, four gold earrings, one gold chain, six gold rings, two gold tops, and two heavy gold sets.

He called someone by the name of Amjad who was standing outside and said something in Urdu and a few words of Balochi, which she could not understand, and then left the premises.

In reply to the PPL management's letter, copies of which were sent to higher authorities, the district police officer of Naseerabad raised some questions pertaining to the case.

He asked that even if it was a theft case, as stated by the PPL management, why were the facts concealed from police for three days and why police were not helped to record the statement of the lady doctor. The report also asks that if she was unconscious, how she was moved from Sui, and if she could travel, why she could not give a statement.

The report is also critical of the company's unwillingness to produce witnesses such as two nurses, two lady doctors, and chief the medical officer, Usman Wadha, for recording their statements. Police believed that the lady doctor had been kept in the PPL hospital in an unconscious state for at least two days.

The political leadership in Balochistan have accused the security personnel on duty at the Sui Field of involvement in the rape. However, the sources in the PPL stated that they had shifted the lady doctor in good faith and 'on her own will' as they did not know the legal complications.

The official sources said the outer security of the Sui Gas Field was the responsibility of the Frontier Constabulary while the responsibility for the internal security rested with the Defence Security Guards.

The FC and DSG personnel did not come under the PPL structure. The incident took place in the women's hostel where men's entry was strictly prohibited. The main entrance to the hostel remained locked and every occupant of the hostel had a key to open it. After entering the hostel premises, all individuals had their own keys for their own rooms.