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| August 10, 2005 | Wednesday | Rajab 4, 1426 |
Army court finds allegation untrue: Neelum rape case
MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 9: An army court of inquiry probing into the alleged gang-rape of a woman by three soldiers in the newly-created Neelum district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has found the allegations untrue, military and civilian officials said here on Tuesday.
“The court of inquiry has examined the complainant, the only witness, and the scene of the alleged offence besides the residents of the area and more than two dozen soldiers but has not found involvement of any uniformed men in it,” a senior intelligence official told Dawn.
The court of inquiry was headed by a lieutenant colonel but it also involved two civilian officials based in the Neelum district in the process of investigations, said the official who requested anonymity.
The alleged incident of gang- rape involving Gulshan Bibi, the 25-year-old divorced daughter of Rehmatullah, had taken place according to her account on July 15 near the Palri village, some 70 km from here, while she was collecting firewood from a forest along with a 12-year-old girl, Nazia, the daughter of Mohammad Shafi.
A resident of Palri, Matiullah, lodged an application about the incident at the Athmuqam police station on July 21 alleging that the rapists were three soldiers.
However, the first information report was registered in the same police station on July 26 against three “unknown persons” under section 10 of the Zina (adultery) Act.
Around 400 valley residents had staged a demonstration in Athmuqam against the alleged incident on the following day, demanding immediate arrest of the accused.
“It was a matter of the army’s prestige and all (intelligence) agencies had been directed by the top command to thoroughly investigate into the allegations so as to bring the facts to light and punish the guilty, if any,” the intelligence official said.
The inquiry, he said, revolved around three possibilities following which “replays and identification parades” were conducted in the presence of influential people of the area but the alleged victim failed to establish her allegations.
A police official told Dawn that Mr Matiullah had also submitted an application, signed by some influential people of the area also, with the Neelum deputy commissioner. It was mentioned in the application that he did not want to pursue the case because “neither Gulshan Bibi could give any proper statement before the court of inquiry in support of her allegations nor could she or the only witness (Nazia Bibi) identify the alleged rapists during the identification parades”.
He said they had requested senior officials to shelve the case for the very reason.
Sources said Gulshan Bibi’s medical check up was conducted in the CM Hospital, Muzaffarabad, on July 28 and according to the provisional report issued by the female medical officer, Saima Manzoor, “no evidence of bruising or violence or stains on clothes had been observed during her examination”.
AJK Tourism Minister Mufti Mansoorur Rehman also confirmed that there had not been any substantial proof of rape at the hands of army personnel.
Mr Rehman represents Neelum valley in the AJK Assembly and had attended many meetings regarding the issue.
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