VEHARI, Oct 20: The family members of Sarwar Mai — who went amiss after she was paraded half-naked in a bazaar — threatened to immolate themselves if she was not recovered and the accused not arrested.

Ms Sarwar’s father Mohammad Fazal and mother Jannat Bibi told Dawn here on Sunday that the accused landlord Jahangir Tareen’s men had abducted their son, Karam Hussain, on Saturday night and tried to force him into withdrawing the case against Mr Tareen and his accomplices Allah Ditta, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Iqbal, Munshi Yasin and Mohammad Yar. Mr Karam was released some time later.

They said they had not reported the Oct 11 disgrace to the police sooner for fear of their lives. The police had neither been able to recover Ms Sarwar nor had they arrested the perpetrators, they lamented.

Some residents of Mauza Shaman on condition of anonymity said Mr Tareen was a local influential person and enjoyed good relations with the local police. He had gone into hiding in connivance with some police officials when he came to know that a case had been registered against him and his accomplices at Mailsi’s Sadar Police Station, they alleged. The police knew about his hideout, they claimed.

Most of the residents of Mauza Shaman did not want to give any information about the incident or the landlord. DSP Habib Ghuman was also not available when this correspondent tried to contact him.

It was learnt that Ms Sarwar had been disgraced on the orders of a landlords’ panchayat.

However, a source said the police had arrested some relatives of the accused.