KARACHI, Aug 25: The Mubina Town police have so far failed to arrest one of the two accused nominated in a gang-rape case lodged on August 14. The two persons, Asmatullah Chandio and Mohammad Yunus Sial, are accused of subjecting Mariam Bano, 35, a mother of four and a resident of Ayub Goth, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, to gang-rape on July 7. Chandio was arrested on Tuesday and produced before a court on Wednesday. The court remanded him in police custody till August 26.

The police had also arrested Hussain Bux Chandio and Moharram Chandio for alleged abetment. They had held a jirga after being approached by the rape victim and had imposed a fine of Rs150,000 on the two alleged rapists. Subsequently, the jirga members had received Rs100,000 from the accused but did not hand over the money to the victim. Police recovered Rs68,000 from them and produced both of them before a court, which ordered their release on bail.

Apparently shocked by their release on bail, Mariam Bano tried to jump off the courts’ building to commit suicide, but people present there saved and consoled her. She then submitted an application to the district and sessions judge (East) against the bail granted to the two jirga members. A senior police officer confirmed that Mariam Bano had tried to kill herself after hearing the court’s decision about their release on bail.

On August 14, Mariam Bano had lodged a complaint with the Mubina Town police station that she had been abducted by Asmatullah and Yunus Sial on July 7. According to her, the abductors took her to an unknown place where they gang raped her. She said there were three other persons at the place who thrashed her, but did not rape her.

When she revealed her ordeal to her husband, Abdul Rasheed Chandio, he took her along and approached Hussain Bux and Moharram Chandio, elders of their clan, to seek justice. The elders held a jirga and imposed fine on the accused. Not satisfied with the jirga’s decree, the couple refused to accept the compensation amount and insisted on punishment to the rapists.

DIG Investigation Zone-1, Manzoor Mughal said that the police had arrested the jirga members for concealing the crime and supporting the criminals.

He said that the police were also looking for the other alleged rapist as well as three persons who according to the victim had subjected her to thrashing.

Although, Asmatullah Chandio has not yet given a motive behind the whole affair, the police investigators believed that it was merely a money dispute. They were of the view that the accused might have failed to pay a certain amount to the woman complainant under some sort of deal and the woman opted for lodging a case against them.

However, sources close to the aggrieved family strongly contradicted the police theory. They said that police were suspecting her character and were levelling serious allegations which could ultimate benefit the accused in court proceedings.