MULTAN, May 31: A teenage girl, who was allegedly gang-raped by some influential people of her village in Muzaffargarh, has said her perpetrators are now hurling threats to shatter her resolve to make them face court.

The 16-year-old girl said the accused were roaming freely as the police had not so far made any serious attempt to put them behind the bar. “They are forcing us to either leave the area or not pursue the matter,” she added.

Daughter of a tenant in Sinawah, she was reportedly kidnapped by four persons when she was about to sleep in her house and was subjected to criminal assault the whole night at the outhouse of an area landlord. She identified two of her perpetrators as Saleem and Abbas. She was left unconscious in the fields near her house.

She said the police did not pay heed to her requests for registration of case until an NGO, Pattan, came to her rescue. The police registered the case when a delegation of the NGO officials visited her in Sinawah along with right activists and mediamen. Her medical examination conducted four days after the incident had however confirmed that she was raped.

Talking to newsmen here on Wednesday, she alleged that the police had earlier deliberately delayed registration of the FIR and now the arrest of her perpetrators was being delayed. She urged the government to ensure safety of her and her family and let the justice prevail.

When contacted, a duty officer at the Sinawah police station said the accused could not be arrested because they had secured pre-arrest bails from a local court. “We have to wait until cancellation of their interim bails,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, Pattan has demanded that a DNA test should immediately be carried out to not let the perpetrators, whoever they were, take advantage of the delay in registration of the FIR and consequent medical examination.

PLEA: The Lahore High Court, Multan bench, adjourned for June 1 the proceedings in the case filed by some 29 employees of the defunct daily Imroz against the management of the National Press Trust for payment of their dues.

The NPT representative reportedly requested court to give some time to submit the reply against the petitioners’ claim. But the court gave the NPT only a day to prepare its reply.