HYDERABAD, Dec 21: A group of women from deh Lashari, Hyderabad rural taluka, have appealed to the authorities to provide them protection against their male relatives who were harassing them with the help of the local police to force them to abandon their farmland.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Thursday, Allah Bachai, Khairan, Dhejani and Najma -- all from the same family and Lashari caste -- said that they were being harassed by Rajab, Mohammad Ibrahim and Shahnawaz who wanted to grab their agriculture land.

They said that Husri police SHO Yar Mohammad Nizamani, sub-inspector Jan Mohammad Noonari, sub-inspector Ghulam Mustafa Laghari and ASI Khadim Hussain Khushk were supporting their tormenters.

They said that cases were registered against the male members of their family but they were proved false.They said that they were tortured by the above-mentioned people but when they approached the police, they refused to register a case. They added that they filed an application with the district and sessions judge Hyderabad after which an FIR was registered under his directives.

However, they added, the accused were roaming about freely and the police had failed to arrest them.

They said that the accused and the police officers were threatening them with dire consequences and had threatened that the male members of their family would be killed in fake encounters.

The Lashari women said that due to the fear of the police, their male relatives were hiding at different places and they (the women) were living by themselves in their homes.

They said that their lives and honour were in danger and appealed to the higher authorities to provide them protection.

Answering a question, they said that they owned 20 acres of agricultural land and their tormentors wanted to take over possession of the land.