HYDERABAD, March 29: A second-year girl student of the Sindh University Jamshoro, who had been missing since Jan 19, appeared before Acting Chief Justice Bhagwandas in Islamabad on Wednesday and said that she had been subjected to rape and violence by three men, one of them claiming to be her husband.

Yusra Siddiqui was under medical care for the physical and emotional wounds she had suffered in captivity, her father said, adding that her hair had been cut and her hands had burn injuries.

Sardar Siddiqui, who is staying with his daughter at a relative's home in Rawalpindi, told Dawn on Thursday that the Supreme Court had come to his rescue. He said that Hyderabad police had been telling him that his daughter had married one Rana Sajjad in Faisalabad after appearing in the court of a civil judge where she said that she was marrying of her free will and she had not been kidnapped.

Yusra had gone missing from the university campus on January 19 and her father lodged an FIR with Market police three days later after having failed to find her. He nominated Sultan Shah and Sheeraz as principal accused in the case.

He sent an application one and a half months ago to Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The first hearing was held on March 16 by Acting Chief Justice Javed Iqbal, who issued directives to Faisalabad and Hyderabad police, calling for her production within 10 days.

"While the case is to be fixed after 10 days, I got a communication that I should attend court on March 28. I reached there along with my wife and daughter. My wife had in fact spotted Yusra who was present in the court's premises and subsequently appeared before the court," Mr Siddiqui told Dawn over phone.

He denied that her daughter was recovered and produced before the court by Sindh or Punjab police. Quoting his daughter, he said she accompanied by two advocates. She told her father that Rana Sajjad had left her at the gate of the Supreme Court and told her that after getting their statements recorded the lawyers would bring her back to him.

"Yes, my daughter told the acting CJ that she had been raped by three persons and one of them, Rana Sajjad, had forced her to sign a nikahnama," said the girl’s father.

According to Mr Siddiqui, his daughter told the court that she had been kidnapped by three persons from the Tilak Chari area and one of them was Rashid. She came to know about his name when he was addressed by his name by other accused.

He maintained that his daughter was taken to Ranipur and then made to board a Faisalabad-bound coach where Sajjad joined her.

Mr Siddiqui said that his daughter prayed to the court to rid her of Sajjad. The court gave two week’s time to the SP investigation Faisalabad to arrest the accused.

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