TAXILA: A woman, who was allegedly tortured and kept under illegal confinement, has urged the chief justice of Pakistan and inspector general of police (IGP) to provide her shelter and justice as those who were involved in committing the crime continued to roam freely.

The victim, Shahida Bibi, resident of Bhalaser village, while narrating her ordeal to journalists on Friday, said on Feb 24 she was going to fetch water when three persons of the same locality started filming her with their mobile phones.

When she asked them to stop, the victim said, they subjected her to severe torture during which she lost one of her teeth. She said when she called Rescue 15, a police party took her to the police station instead of Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital for medical examination and registered no case against the persons involved.

The police registered a case without medical examination as they wanted to create a way for the persons involved to seek relief from the local court through pre-arrest bail, she claimed, adding that the three later broke into her house and subjected her to more torture because she refused to withdraw the case against them.

She said they tore her clothes, shaved her head and eyebrows. She claimed that they belonged to an influential family, which was why the police were reluctant to take action against them.

Upon being contacted, Investigation Officer Najeebullah rejected the allegations of the woman, adding that police took action promptly. He said the woman reported the matter to police on April 6 and they registered a case under sections 352, 354, 337-V-2,506 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal code (PPC).

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2022