ISLAMABAD: The father of a four-year-old girl who survived sexual assault and attempted murder in Bhara Kahu in early July has expressed reservations about the investigation of the child’s case and has approached senior police officers seeking a reinvestigation.

The child disappeared while playing outside her house on July 8 and was found unconscious some distance from her home. She was raped and strangled by the attacker, but survived.

Police officials said the child’s father visited Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operation) (DIG) Waqaruddin Syed on Wednesday and Thursday and submitted an application for a reinvestigation of his daughter’s case.

Police said the DIG’s staff told him the matter would be discussed at a meeting today (Friday), where it will be decided whether the request is expected or rejected.

In the application, the man has said that the police arrested a suspect but Bhara Kahu police did not investigate the case in the right direction.

He alleged that this was done so as to favour the suspect.

He also said the police did not inform him of the suspect’s arrest or when the suspect was taken into custody on physical remand for interrogation, and the police also did not share details of the investigation with him.

Officials quoted the application as saying that the police did not mention the suspect as a suspect in their investigation, and are depending on reports from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) that have not yet been received.

The victim’s father also expressed doubts regarding the samples sent to the PFSA. He said in the application that he was only provided a copy of the FIR and his requests for other case documents were denied.

DIG Syed could not be reached for comment.

The child’s father said he met with the DIG and asked if he was willing to reinvestigate the case through to the Criminal Intelligence Agency, to which he agreed. He said the decision on this matter will be made on Friday after meeting.

He also said that he appeared in the Islamabad additional and sessions court with his counsel on Wednesday and Thursday for the suspect’s bail application hearing.

He said there was no support on either day from the police to have the bail application cancelled, as neither the station house officer nor the investigating officer appeared in court.

The court heard arguments from the counsel of the suspect on Wednesday and the complainant on Thursday. He said the judgement was supposed to be announced at noon and then at 2pm, but had not been by the time he left the premises.

Victim has physically recovered

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja told Dawn that the victim was brought to the hospital for a check-up, where a team of doctors led by a child specialist and including psychiatrists and a gynaecologist expressed satisfaction with her health and recovery.

He said the family was advised on how to help the child recover from the trauma.

The child’s father said the doctors had permitted her to attend school. He added that the family has to move out of the neighbourhood where they had built their home because a suspect in the case is their neighbour and being in the neighbourhood forces the child to recall her attack.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2019