KARACHI, Aug 29: Mrs Anis Ahsan, employer of Shabana, a maid who claims to have been raped by the former’s son and another person, has accused that latter of blackmailing her family, and urged the authorities to take action against the maid because she, along with other criminals, was indulged in humiliating several respectable people.

Mrs Ahsan told a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday that certain NGOs had also come out with assistance to the maid without ascertaining facts.

Narrating the whole affair, she said that on the night of July 9, three persons had sneaked into her house prompting her son, Zafar, to raise the alarm. Some neighbours rushed to the house and caught two of the intruders while the third one escaped, she said, adding that police were then called out and the thieves were arrested.

Mrs Ahsan said that Shabana later told the family that one of those arrested was her husband. The family first decided to hand over Shabana also to the police, but did not do so and forgave her, the maid’s employer said.

“It was only on July 23 that I came to know about Shabana having lodged a complaint with the Sindh ombudsman against the family and the police, and that I am required to give evidence. In the meantime, the theft case was in the court.” Mrs Ahsan further stated that on Aug 23, she read in newspapers that the ombudsman had ordered registration of an FIR against her family on the complaint of Shabana who came out with the allegation of rape.

Subsequently, the FIR was registered, said Mrs Ahsan who indicated that under Section 9 (a) of the Provincial Ombudsman Act 1991, “if a matter is pending in a court, the ombudsman cannot interfere.”

She accused Shabana of being a member of the criminal gang which had been implicating respectable people in false cases (usually of her rape) in the past. In this context, Mrs Ahsan cited FIR No.292/05 lodged with the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police station and FIR No.28/05 lodged with the Mubina Town police station. She said more such cases might come to light if investigation was made. She told journalists that Shabana’s husband was also a criminal and an FIR (No.191/05) had been registered against him by the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police.

It may be recalled that Shabana has claimed that on the orders of Mrs Ahsan, she had been raped by two persons at her house where she was hired as maid. Shabana has alleged that on her raising hue and cry, the family called out police and lodged a theft case against her husband. She has further claimed that she had been stripped at Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station.

In the meantime, Khalida Ahmad, an activist of the NGO, War Against Rape, has submitted an application with the DIG Operations stating that when she, along with Shabana, was waiting for police at the civil hospital after getting Shabana medically examined there, some people came there and subjected her to abuses and threats, warning her against helping out Shabana. She said she had taken the rape victim to that hospital on the directive of the Sindh ombudsman.