PESHAWAR, May 6: A young girl working in a house was sexually assaulted by a man who reportedly escaped when her health deteriorated after an abortion in a local clinic, sources told Dawn on Thursday. The University Town police have arrested a brother-in-law of the accused and are looking for a lady doctor involved in the case, the sources said.

The 12-year-old daughter of a daily wage earner told police that she had been working as a maid in the house of Imran Durrani, a field education officer in the Afghan commissionerate.

Mr Durrani’s wife, Wagma, an Afghan national, also worked in the basic education project. Wagma’s brother Jameel alias Babrak and sister Gul Bakhta lived with them in the Gulshanabad area, sources said.

The girl said that three months ago when the family went to Islamabad to attend the wedding of Wagma’s cousin she accompanied them. They were staying in a guest-house where in the absence of Ms Wagma and Ms Gul Bakhta, she alleged, she was raped by Jameel. She said that the man, whose wife lived in the United States, tortured her for about one month till they returned to Peshawar.

The girl said she got pregnant and when she informed Wagma about it she took her to a clinic where a lady doctor carried out an operation for abortion.

Police said that her health started deteriorating after the abortion and Mr Durrani and Ms Wagma took her to Islamabad for treatment where she remained hospitalized for two months.

A few days ago, the girl told her mother about the matter who lodged a case against the family of Mr Durrani. The case has been registered against Jameel under the Hudood Ordinance. Another case has also been registered against Mr Durrani, Ms Wagma and Ms Gul Bakhta. Mr Durrani was arrested under section 109 of the CrPC. The sources said that Jameel escaped when he came to know that the girl’s mother had lodged a case.