Rape victim who set herself ablaze dies

Published March 14, 2014
Paramedics and policemen move the body of a rape victim from a hospital in Multan on March 14, 2014. — Photo by AFP
Paramedics and policemen move the body of a rape victim from a hospital in Multan on March 14, 2014. — Photo by AFP

MUZAFFARGARH: A girl, who set herself ablaze in in Bet Mir Hazar area in protest against a police report which helped her alleged rapist obtain bail, succumbed to her injuries today, DawnNews reported.

Sources told Dawn.com that she died at 9 am Friday morning.

Moreover, the main accused in the alleged rape was rearrested today whereas the investigating officer was also arrested.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani took suo motu notice of the incident today.

He moreover sought a report from District Police Officer Muzaffargarh and summoned Inspector General Punjab on March 17.

In his remarks, Chief Justice Jillani questioned as to what justice the Punjab government was providing to its people.

Earlier on Thursday, a local court had granted bail to the main accused in the alleged rape, following which the girl went to the Bet Mir Hazar police station and lodged a protest with an investigation officer for favouring the accused in his report.

She had later doused her clothes with petrol and set herself on fire outside the police station in the presence of her younger brother. Some passers-by and policemen had taken her to Jatoi Civil Hospital. She had been later shifted to Nishtar Hospital in Multan because of her critical condition.

Nishtar Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Shaukat Malik said the girl had sustained 80 per cent burns.

According to sources, the 18-year-old girl was returning home from her college on Jan 5 when the accused, along with his four accomplices, allegedly raped her in a deserted area.

— With additional reporting by Malik Tahseen Raza

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