BAHAWALNAGAR: District police booked a landlord and his five accomplices on the charge of raping his minor maid and aborting her child in connivance with two midwives when she got pregnant.

The FIR registered with Mandi Sadiq Ganj police on March 7 stated that a landlord of village Matwala, along with his employee, raped his 14-year-old maid, who was an orphan, on different occasions until she got pregnant. After the pregnancy, they asked her to remain silent over the matter while threatening to kill her. On Feb 16, she was alone at the landlord’s house, he, and his workers in connivance with two midwives, two unidentified persons, forcibly injected her medicines, causing a miscarriage. The suspects buried the fetus and left the scene while forcing to keep mum by threatening her with dire consequences.

When she returned home, the girl’s brother noticed her condition and called the neighbours. Police booked the suspects on the victim’s complaint.

On the other hand, sources told Dawn that in the FIR, the police attempted to demonstrate that the delay in the FIR was due to the complainant. The sources alleged that the police deliberately delayed registering the case for weeks after accepting a heavy bribe from the landlord. The police also refused to conduct a medical examination of the girl and pushed the family away from the police station, advising them to reconcile with the suspects.

A member of the victim’s family told Dawn that in exchange of reconciliation, the police offered them Rs1m on behalf of the suspects and when they refused to reconcile, the policemen hounded them constantly.

Meanwhile, a Special Branch report issued on the matter on March 8, a copy available with Dawn, claimed that the SHO and an ASI had forced the victim’s family to settle the case after accepting bribes from the culprits. The police also delayed the medical checkup of the girl and later returned the forensic samples, citing objections. It alleged that despite initial medical evidence of sexual assault, the FIR was filed under a less severe section, Section 376 of the PPC rather than 376(ii)), which favoured the accused.

When contacted, police spokesperson Zahid Rasool said that due to the delay in filing the FIR and other issues, the SHO had been removed.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2025