PESHAWAR, Dec 29: A Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial police officer (PPO) to ensure incorporation of the Anti-Terrorism Act’s (ATC) provisions in the case of the murder of an alleged rape victim’s brother and said both the murder and rape cases should be tried by the anti-terrorism court in Kohat.

Expressing annoyance, the bench composed of Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth rejected the inquiry conducted by DIG (inquiry) Sultan Haneef Orakzai, who absolved the accused policemen from all responsibility for the two incidents, and said the report of the said inquiry shouldn’t be made part of the ongoing investigation at any stage.

It said the said DIG should be dropped from the inquiry and instead another DIG Idrees Khan, who had also conducted an initial inquiry, be asked to supervise it.

The bench asked the provincial government to provide free lodging and security to the alleged rape victim and her family in Peshawar within a fortnight, while PPO Akbar Khan Hoti was told not to assign the then district police officer of Karak and the DSP in question any duty until the disposal of the case.

The directions were issued during the hearing into the case about the alleged kidnapping and rape of a Karak girl last year by around a dozen people, including three police officials, and the killing of her brother, Alamzeb, outside a court in Takhte Nusrati area on December 9 this year.

The chief justice had taken suo motu notice of the killing and had ordered the PPO to conduct inquiry into the alleged involvement of police officials in the killing and the reported procession by policemen in support of an accused, Hakeem Khan.

Provincial home secretary Mohammad Azam Khan and the PPO on Thursday informed the court that they had suspended several police officials and some of them had also been arrested.

The girl, who is in advance stage of pregnancy, showed up along with her mother and recorded statement. She named 12 people, including army sepoy Naseebullah and police officials Pir Mohsin Shah, Hakeem Khan and Ameer Mohammad, for her kidnapping and rape for around one year.

She said police had raided her house in Marwatano Banda village on July 30, 2010, and took her away. She claimed that Dr Iqbal used to administer her drugs through injections before being repeatedly raped by the accused and that she escaped while being shifted to DI Khan in a car on September 19, 2011.

The bench ordered the inclusion of Section 7 of the ATA in the FIR of Mr Alamzeb’s murder and observed that the image of the province was tarnished by such incidents in which officials were involved.

Representatives of civil society attended the hearing in large numbers and hailed the steps taken by the court for providing protection to the alleged rape victim and her family.