TAXILA: The family members of a 14-year-old girl, who was abducted and later killed, were beaten up and detained by police after they held a protest demanding the recovery of her body.

The mother, a brother, uncle and aunt along with other relatives staged the protest on GT Road near Jameelabad in Wah.

As the protesters blocked traffic, a police team arrived to negotiate with the protesting family during which they exchanged harsh words.

In the meantime, a police official, who was in civvies, started beating the protesting women due to which the mother of the victim fainted. All the male members of the family were then detained and shifted to the police station. The rest of the family members later staged another protest at Taxila Chowk against the police highhandedness. However, after negotiations, the family dispersed peacefully and traffic was restored after an hour.

CPO Kiani takes notice of police action

The orphan girl, a resident of Malikabad, who worked as a maid with her mother, went missing from her house on October 9, 2021.

Later, her mother filed an abduction case in court after which the police through call data record arrested a suspect who lived in the locality of the girl. The police grilled the man and later sent him to jail. The family members accused the police of faulty interrogation of the suspect.

Later, the victim’s mother approached Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench for the recovery of her daughter.

The LHC gave a two-day deadline to the police to recover the abducted girl. As pressure mounted, the police grilled the family members of the suspect and arrested five persons, including three brothers of the prime suspect on Dec 23. During interrogation, they confessed that the girl had been killed and her body dumped in Kohat.

As the family did not see further progress, they held a protest on GT Road and blocked traffic.

The victim’s mother said they had been running from pillar to post to get the body of her daughter.

The uncle of the victim girl said City Police Officer (CPO) Sajid Kiani had assured the family that the police would recover the body within a week. However, so far no progress has been made on it.

The aunt of the girl said first the police failed to trace the girl and now they are unable to recover her body. The family members called upon the chief justice of Pakistan, the prime minister and chief minister to provide them justice.

When contacted, duty officer at the Wah Saddar police station Sub-Inspector Ijaz Ahmed said they had collected samples from the family members for DNA testing and matching with samples to be taken from the remains of the girl buried in Kohat for identification.

He said Rawalpindi police were in touch with the Kohat police and would exhume the body after obtaining permission from the court there. He said the court had fixed Jan 31 for hearing of the application.

“We cannot do anything on our own and have to follow the legal procedure.”

However, CPO Kiani took notice of the police action against the family members of the victim.

According to a police spokesman, constable Zeeshan was suspended and a departmental inquiry ordered against him.

SP Potohar Rana Abdul Wahab has been appointed as inquiry officer in the matter.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2022