PESHAWAR, June 27: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has urged the authorities, especially the Haripur police, to ensure the safety of those who are witness to the inhumane incident of stripping off a woman in public and forcing her to parade naked.

A press release issued on Monday by the vice-chairperson of the HRCP for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sher Mohammad Khan, stated that a fact-finding team of the commission came to know that the father-in-law of the victim woman, Shahnaz Akhtar, was threatened by one Adnan who is the son of an accused, Basheer Khan, charged in the FIR by the SHO concerned.

Besides, two other witnesses, Tariq and Moeen, residents of the Neelor village, and prayer-leader of the local mosque, Syed Sakhawat Husain Shah, who have recorded their statements before the court under section 164 of the CrPC against the accused persons, are also being reportedly threatened by the same person.

“The HRCP fears that the perpetrators of the tragic incident may escape the legal consequences of the case by forcing the witnesses to change their statements,” the commission said.

The HRCP noted with concern the role of jirga in deciding the case of Ms Shumaila, the wife of Suleman, for not informing her family about the alleged eve-teasing by the son of Shahnaz Akhtar for which Ms Akhtar was paraded naked.

The locals and the participants of the jirga which was led by Basheer Khan told the HRCP team that the jirga declared that Shumaila should be divorced for not informing her family about the eve-teasing by Kazim and Rashid.