July 31, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 27, 1429

KARACHI, July 30: The additional district and sessions judge-IV, east, Aftab Ahmed Bughio, deferred the indictment of suspects in a gang-rape case till Aug 2 due to the lawyers’ strike on Wednesday.

Investigation officer Sabir Hussain, earlier, submitted the police file of the case in court. The IO had been issued several show-cause notices by the court with a direction to submit the police file.

The case pertained to the gang-rape of an 18-year-old woman on the premises of Mazar-i-Quaid. The woman was subjected to sexual assault after being kidnapped by five men on the night of March 15 and was found in an unstable condition outside the mausoleum on March 17.

An FIR (No 50/2008) of the case was registered at Brigade police station under Section 365/B of the Pakistan Penal Code (the section was inserted through the Protection of Women Act 2006) on the complaint of her father.

On March 20, the police had arrested an assistant manager security of mausoleum for his alleged involvement in the case. An accountant and a personal assistant to the resident engineer of the Quaid-i-Azam Management Mausoleum Board were booked on April 24 following the receipt of the DNA report that confirmed their involvement in the case. All the suspects were remanded in jail custody.

In the charge-sheet, the investigation officer stated that the 18-year-old woman from Lodhran, accompanied by her relatives, came to Karachi on March 15. They paid a visit to the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam at night. The couple went inside earlier than the rest of the family members. However, the moment her husband left to bring in the remaining family members, who were waiting outside in a bus, a power breakdown occurred and the woman was kidnapped by the assistant security manager of the Mazar and his associates. She was taken to a room where she was forced to drink wine and sexually assaulted. She was later found in an unstable condition outside the mausoleum.

Bail pleas rejected

The court of additional district and sessions judge-II, central, has rejected the bail applications of five suspected terrorists arrested on the eve of Ashura.

The accused had moved bail applications through their counsel. The judge pronounced the order after recording arguments from both sides.

On June 27, the court had indicted five suspected terrorists on charges of possessing weapons and explosive substance and planning to carry out attacks on processions during Ashura. They had pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.

The prosecution said the accused, Syed Mohammed Waseem alias Imran, Mohammed Ajaz alias Abdul Rehman, Jamil Ahmed alias Wazir Akbar, Mohammed Hamid alias Qasim and a would-be suicide bomber, Aziz Ahmed alias Mohammed Khan, were arrested by the CID police on Jan 19 in North Karachi. The suspects were allegedly planning to carry out suicide attacks on Ashura processions.Six cases (FIR Nos 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10/08) were registered against the accused under Section of 324 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 13-D of the Arms Ordinance and 3/4 of the Explosive Act at New Karachi police station. The court fixed Aug 11 as the next date of hearing and directed the investigation officer to produce the police record and witnesses.

Judicial remand

The civil judge and judicial magistrate, west, Aurangzeb Shah, remanded two suspects in jail custody till Aug 8 in a case pertaining to the kidnap and murder of a senior official of the provincial transport department.

The suspects, Raja Zeeshan and Shakeel Abbas, were arrested by the police on July 23.

The prosecution said that Agha Dhani Bux Pathan, a senior official in the transport department, was kidnapped on the night of July 20 and his bullet-riddled body was found near French Beach the next morning. The Mauripur police registered a case against the accused.

Boycott continues

Lawyers boycotted, meanwhile, the legal proceedings at the City Courts and District Courts Malir on Wednesday on the account of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s visit to the metropolis.

The under-trial prisoners were brought to the City Courts from different prisons, but their cases could not be heard due to the strike. The boycott of court proceedings would continue on Thursday (today) in pursuance of a strike call given by the Pakistan Bar Council to protest against the ousting of judges.

A delegation of the Karachi Bar Association comprising KBA president Mahmoodul Hasan, and managing committee members Riaz Afendi, Aslam Bhutta, Shafiq Butt, Uzma Rafiq and Shazia Mughal met the deposed chief justice on Wednesday morning.

Mr Hasan said that Justice Iftikhar lauded the role of Karachi bar in the ongoing struggle of lawyers and appreciated their efforts for holding a grand reception for him.