Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 16 year old girl was abducted along with her brother by the persons from the land mafia for ransom. During the ordeal the girl was gang raped for almost one month. After the intervention of a session court the police filed the First Information Report and arrested two accused persons but they were released within two hours after the accepted bribes from them. The interior minister pledged before the Sindh provincial assembly that he would take up the case but no action from the ministry has been taken yet after passing two months. The family of the victims are facing threats from perpetrators and the police to not following the case otherwise their two other children would face the same fate.

The case has been transferred in to the Anti-terrorist court but no perpetrator has yet been arrested.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Six armed men from a group of land grabbers from Karachi, working in nexus with different police stations, attacked the house of Mr. Abdul Rafiq Jagirani alias Mohib Ali, son of Maula dad Jagirani, in Faizabad, Khairpur Mirs, Sindh province, on 14 October 2010 and abducted his 16 years old girl, Miss S (name withheld), and his son, Muhammad Afzal, 14, at gunpoint for ransom. They threatened Jagirani not to report it to the police otherwise they will kill both children.

After half an hour of the abduction Jagirani reported the matter to the police but because of threats from the abductors he did not identify them. After two days the abductors asked for Rs. 500,000 (USD 5883) as ransom for the release of his children. He sold his some agriculture land for the payment and handed over the money to the abductors in Karachi, 400 kilometers away from his city. It took him one month to arrange the money. The payment was paid in Bhitai abad, Gulistan-Johar, Karachi to the main accused, Abdul Kareem Marfani, and in return the abductors released his children. Following her release his daughter told him that she was raped during her captivity.

He then reported the act of gang rape to the section A police station, Khairpur Mirs, but police refused to mention the gang rape in their report. He then filed an application in the Session court of Khairpur Mirs who ordered the police to file FIR of her abduction and rape. On 29 November 2010, A section police station filed the FIR. After which her medical examination was conducted on 3 December, at Civil Hospital Khairpur, wherein the rape was confirmed. Following that a statement of the children were recorded under Sections 161 and 164 of the CrPc. The case was shifted to Anti-terrorism court on the report, dated 10 January, of special public prosecutor who raised many questions about the ill intentions and negligence of the A section police station of Khairpur. The police failed to produce the accused persons when the court issued non-bailable warrants for the accused persons. The cases were registered against four accused persons namely; Abdul Kareem Marfani, Abdul Hafeez Marfani, Deedar Husain Marfani and Mehboob Marfani. The names of the remaining two suspects were not known.

After that Jagirani went to Karachi along with all papers of the court orders because the accused persons were from Sachal Goth Karachi. He visited Sachal and Gulistan-e-Johar police stations to submit the papers. After three days of his stay in Karachi, police arrested two accused persons, Abdul Kareem Marfani and Mehboob Marfani on 26 February at 6. PM. At 8.PM the station house officer (SHO) Abdul Salam telephoned to Jagirani to come to police station where Jagirani saw that many people from land mafia were present. The SHO told him that many powerful persons and officers from interior ministry are putting pressure on him to release the accused persons. According to the Jagirani the SHO has also mentioned the name of Mr. Bashir Khan Quereshi, chief of Jeay Sindh Quomi Mahaz (JSQM), a nationalist group of Sindh, who was putting pressure on him to release the accused. The SHO urged victim’s father not to follow his case. In the meantime, another accused person, Abdul Hafeez Marfani, arrived and was treated with respect by the SHO who told him to sit in another room. Jagirani felt insecure asked the SHO to drop him at the main road. After two hours the arrested persons were released allegedly after bribing the officers.

Jagirani then contacted Mr. Nasrullah Baloch, member of Sindh assembly from Sukkur district, who raised the case rape of the girl in the assembly. The minister of interior, Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza, replied on the question and promised that he would do his best in this case. But the minister never contacted the victim’s father and did nothing.

Until now no accused person has been arrested and the police are providing protection to the perpetrators.

The girl was a student of class ninth at the Government Girls School, Khairpur Mirs.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities to conduct an inquiry into the case of gang rape of a girl by land grabbers and police protection to the perpetrators. Please urge the authorities to prosecute the officials of three police stations of the Sindh province who are involved, directly or indirectly, in not following the law but using their official positions to harass the victim and her family. As such they are instrumental in allowing this crime against women to go unpunished. The authorities should provide medical treatment to the victim and compensate her.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on violence against women and child rights calling for their interventions into this matter.

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