LAHORE/GUJRAT: The Hafizabad police have booked an unknown suspect(s) on the charge of raping a 14-year-old audibly challenged girl with poor mental and physical condition.

The girl was brought to a government hospital on Saturday by her parents due to her deteriorating health where doctors found her six-month pregnant. The Hafizabad City Police Station registered FIR number 1152/25 on Sunday under Section 376 (3) of Pakistan Penal Code against the unidentified suspect(s) for allegedly raping the deaf mute girl in her adolescent age. The doctors involved police as her parents told them that their daughter was unmarried.

Hafizabad District Police Officer (DPO) Atif Nazir termed it a heinous case of sexual assault on a mentally and physically challenged girl, saying the police sprang into action when the hospital management informed them.

He said he immediately dispatched a team from the City Police Station to the hospital where they talked to the medical staff and then approached the victim’s family.

The police also obtained the record of the medical examination and then lodged the FIR against the unidentified suspect(s) under section 376 (3) (whoever commits rape of a minor or a person with mental or physical disability, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and fine) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The DPO lamented that the girl belonged to lower strata of society and her parents had no record in the NADRA as they used to move from one place to another, spending most of time alongside roads. He said the girl was shifted to the hospital by her parents when pregnancy matured, the DPO said.

“The girl is unable to speak, hear or walk, and can’t express her feelings”, Mr Atif lamented. “So was the case with her parents who were unable to explain what had happened to their daughter.”

He expressed the hope that the police would soon arrest the culprit(s).

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2025