September 17, 2006	Sunday	Sha'aban 23, 1427

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MULTAN, Sept 16: The Khanewal police have failed to arrest the 13 people who had abducted a girl and her mother in the last week of August. Two of the accused allegedly raped the girl in what police believe an act of vengeance.

The rape of the girl who had been recovered along with her mother 10 days ago had been confirmed by Dr Saima Iftikhar of Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Kabirwala, who conducted the medical examination.

The girl had submitted an application to the area magistrate to order her medical examination, saying Nazar Marrali, the mastermind of this case who is in Kabirwala police custody, and another man raped her.

Naveed Raza Bokhari, the area magistrate, had ordered the girl’s medical examination which confirmed rape.

The victim — a master’s degree holder of the Bahauddin Zakariya University — was abducted along with her mother when she was asleep at her house in Chak Sher Khan, Kabirwala, on Aug 25. Some 14 men in police uniform had come to their house and took away the girl and her mother at gunpoint.

On Sept 5, Kabirwala DSP Malik Daud Hasnain Abbas claimed that the girl and her mother were recovered by the police after a successful raid but the victim repudiated the claim, saying the police had conducted three unsuccessful raids as just 20 to 25 minutes before every raid the abductors would receive a phone call and they would shift them to another place.

She said it was her uncle and his friends who helped their recovery while they were being shifted to Lahore.

Earlier, the girl had denied in the Lahore High Court’s Multan Bench that she was raped but after a few days she complained in an application to the area magistrate that she was raped by two of the accused. The family withdrew the writ petition after the girl and her mother were recovered.

She told Dawn that she did not want to bring infamy to her family and initially tried to hide the incident. She alleged that the police were doing a disservice to them instead of extending support and arresting the culprits.

“The police are tormenting my family making all of us spend sleepless nights. My future has been ruined and I am feeling highly insecure at hospital.”

Meanwhile, Mukhtar Mai condemned the police for harassing the girl and her family instead of arresting the accused.

She said some “influential political figures” of the area wanted to protect the accused and the police had become a tool in their hands. Khanewal DPO Shahid Haneef told Dawn that the force had already arrested one of the accused and all-out efforts were being made to reach the remaining culprits.

He denied the girl’s claim that she was recovered by her uncle, insisting that the Kabirwala police had recovered the girl and her mother in a raid. The area magistrate had summoned the police for Saturday (yesterday) but they did not show up after which the summons were issued for Sept 19.