SHO under investigation for ‘threatening’ assault survivor in DI Khan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The Station House Officer Bashaarat Khan in whose station the case of 16-year-old girl, who was stripped and paraded in her village, was registered has been line hazir [ordered to do routine work for police line] and currently under investigation.

The decision was taken after the survivor recorded her statement before a judicial magistrate on Saturday. Moreover, the case was also handed over to a five-member investigation team.

The teenager, while recording her second statement on Saturday, said: “I was threatened by the police which is why I couldn’t say what had happened with me before. I was forced to say things that I didn’t want to,” she said.

She also shared that she was threatened that if she pursues the case, then cases would be registered against her brother and relatives.

“When I started recording my statement, the police officer didn’t write it correctly. Instead, he wrote only what he wanted to.”

She explained that the investigation officer Chand Shah tried to influence her statement. “He also told me that my clothes weren’t torn on the streets rather I took them off inside my own house and that Sajawal [prime suspect] wasn’t present there.”

The investigation officer also hurled abuses and stopped my mother from interfering in the matter. “When I was taken to the court, my statement hadn’t been recorded. He was present with the lawyer and told me to give the statement which they are telling,” she pointed out.

The assault survivor said that the accused in the case also shot a video of the incident. The girl's uncle said that the family has still been receiving threats to stop them from taking the accused to task.

Prime suspect still at large

The prime suspect, identified as Sajawal, who allegedly stripped a 16-year-old and paraded her to avenge her brother’s conduct in a village in Dera Ismail Khan is still at large.

The police are currently conducting raids and different operations to arrest Sajawal. The suspect was believed to go into hiding in Karachi and two of his facilitators, whose house Sajawal stayed in, were apprehended.

However, police suspect that Sajawal is either in Bhakkar or Peshawar.

Eight of the nine suspects, against whom a case was registered, are in police custody. Four of the suspects have also confessed to the crime.

Investigation in final stages: IG

Speaking to Geo News over the matter, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IG Salahuddin Mehsud said that the investigation is in its final stages and will be completed soon.

IG also remarked that there is no external pressure on the police in the case’s investigation. “The police department is unbiased and conducting investigation with freedom.”

The culprits will be taken to task soon. “I am personally overseeing the case.”

Activists, politicians slam KP govt’s silence

Pakistan Peoples Party Leader Nighat Orakzai announced on Saturday that the party’s women wing would hold a protest outside the survivor’s house. She remarked that the survivor’s relatives had alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Ali Amin Gandapur is ‘protecting’ the suspects.

She also slammed the KP government for not taking any action. “Imran Khan and Pervaiz Khattak’s silence in the case is sorrowful.”

Moreover, former journalist Reham Khan, who is also the ex-wife of Imran Khan, was not allowed to hold a press conference over the matter in the area. In response, she held a press conference at the road outside Circuit House and slammed the government. 

"The incident speaks volume about the exemplary conduct of KP police and good governance here," she remarked. "When the girl went to get the case registered, the SHO hurled abuses at her."

Ministry of Human Right Secretary Ghulam Abbas, who also hails from DI Khan, visited the survivor and her family in their house in Girah Mut locality.

The official also promised the family relief fund. He assured the family that they will be provided financial as well as legal aid.

Teenager stripped, paraded in village

The incident occurred on October 27, when the 16-year-old girl was returning home after fetching water when men surrounded her, stripped her and forcefully made her walk in the locality for an hour.

The girl’s screams for help fell on deaf ears as no one came to her rescue. The witnesses’ claimed that nobody came to help her because they were scared.

The incident's survivor was ‘punished’ for her brother’s behaviour. Around three-years-ago, her brother, identified as Sajjad, got involved in a relationship with a girl from the village.

A panchayat (village council) gathered and had fined Sajjad’s family Rs0.25million to resolve the matter. The tehsil nazim was also a part of the decision-making process.