PESHAWAR/CHARSADDA: The Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) has demanded judicial probe into the shocking incident in Dera Ismail Khan, where a teenage orphan girl was forced to walk naked through a village street, so that the accused persons could be awarded punishment at the earliest.

Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, QWP’s social media wing chief Nasreen Khattak described the incident extremely shocking.

She said the provincial government had failed to protect lives and honour of the poor people, otherwise the main culprits in the instant case would have been arrested so far.

Flanked by QWP women wing provincial chairperson Nargas Yasmeen, Ms Khattak said the 14-year-old girl was dragged naked onto streets by some anti-social elements in Dera but the main accused was still at large because of his association with an influential person.

The QWP leader said it was a challenge for the local elected representatives, especially for the members of the national and provincial assemblies, to ensure protection to their voters and take action against the perpetrators. She said Pakistan was signatory of international conventions pertaining to rights of women and children and was bound to ensure protection to the weak segments of society.

Meanwhile, addressing a public gathering at Sherpao village in Charsadda, QWP provincial chairman Sinakdar Hayat Khan Sherpao said the KP government had failed to take action against the culprits in the Dera incident and to provide justice to the bereaved family of the girl.

He said the real facts about the incident had been hushed up, therefore judicial inquiry would bring the reality to the fore.

Sikandar Sherpao said the delimitation of the constituencies as per the freshly conducted census was need of the hour and it would protect the rights of the smaller provinces.

He expressed concern over the deadlock on the issue as certain political parties had backed out of their commitment, which would deprive the smaller provinces of their representation in the National Assembly.

He regretted that the larger provinces had always attempted to damage the interests of the smaller provinces which caused sense of deprivation among them.

He said the QWP was the staunchest opponent of any snap and early elections, adding demand of PTI chairman Imran Khan for snap polls had no takers and the PTI’s abrupt volt-face had provoked the public mandate.

He demanded that the legislatures should be allowed to live their full lives.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2017