PESHAWAR, May 20: Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan on Thursday took suo motu notice of parading a girl naked in a village of Nowshera district and directed the district and sessions judge concerned to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

The chief justice has directed Nowshera's district and sessions judge Ibraheem Khan to conduct the inquiry forthwith and produce a detailed report of the incident.

The suo motu notice was taken by the chief justice after a section of the press reported the incident. A 16-year-old girl, Ms Rafia, was taken out of her residence on May 2 at gunpoint by some inhabitants of Kucha Dehri (Pir Sabak village), and was allegedly stripped of her clothes.

The passers-by witnessed the whole incident but nobody came for her rescue as the accused persons were armed with Kalashnikov rifles. The girl and her family have requested the provincial government and provincial police officer (PPO) to refer her case to the anti-terrorism court.

The victim told newsmen here that they were under pressure from the influential accused for withdrawing the case and forgiving them. Abdul Sattar, her uncle, said that the accused family had been threatening them with dire consequences, including putting their house to fire if they failed to reach a compromise with them.

The police has so far arrested only one accused, Rashid, whereas his partners in the crime remain at large. The victim's family claimed that although the accused persons had left their residences in the village, they had been roaming in the area without fear.

With tears rolling down her face, the victim said that on the day of occurrence none of the male-members were at home. She claimed that the accused, headed by Said Faqir and Muhammad Faqir, believed that her father, Iqbal Ahmad, had disgraced the daughter of Said Faqir three months ago and they targeted her in revenge.

She said the people of the area were passing by but none dared to come for her rescue as the accused were armed with Kalashnikovs. The FIR of the case was lodged by Fazal Daud, brother of the victim, on May 8. The case was registered under section 354A, 148 and 149 of Pakistan Penal Code.

In the FIR, he claimed that he was a truck driver residing in Pir Sabaq, whereas his parents lived in Hyderabad. He claimed that when he returned home from Karachi after performing routine duty, the family's women told him about the incident.

The family claimed that Said Faqir, Muhammad faqir, their sons and some other family members entered the residence at about 9am on May 2. Abdul Sattar told newsmen that the victim family was now residing with him at Risalpur and had left their village as they were facing threats from the accused. He said that the accused were landowners and wielded much influence in the area.