



As part of a ‘revenge’ plot, a mob disrobed a woman and paraded her naked around a village in Muzaffargarh district, after accusing her son-in-law of kidnapping a married girl.





The incident took place in Missan Kot Buaa village of Ali Pur sub-district, Muzaffargarh district, and is part of a chain of events – which were allegedly neglected by police. One thing was certain, however, that the women of both sides of the conflict were the ones to lose.Mehmood Bibi*, along with 10 women of her household, was beaten up and stripped by Amjad Ahmed* and 60 villagers, after they were turned away continuously by police. Bibi was the only one, however, who was paraded naked around the village, and subsequently kidnapped.Ahmed had demanded that Bibi’s husband disclose the whereabouts of their son-in-law, Nazir*, accused of kidnapping Ahmed’s daughter Asma*.Ahmed told The Express Tribune that after his daughter was kidnapped, he had visited the police station more than 30 times, but was turned away.According to reports, Nazir, a local landlord and Ahmed’s neighbour, would tease Asma, who married about six months ago.On February 27, Nazir was up to his antics again and tried to grab Asma as she was walking by. Asma, in turn, abused him in front of other villagers. Suffering a blow to his ego, Nazir, who is also married with three children, threatened Asma of ‘dreadful consequences’.On February 29, Nazir along with his companions kidnapped Asma from her home after beating her up in front of other villagers.Her father, Ahmed, along with other villagers went over to Nazir’s residence to recover his daughter, but was turned away by his brothers.He, then, approached the Muzaffarhgarh police but they also refused to help. SHO Aashiq Gishkori simply denied lodging an FIR.That is when Ahmed decided to take matters in his own hand.Along with 60 villagers, he approached the residence of Nazir, who had been living with his in-laws. However, Nazir’s father-in-law denied giving any information on the whereabouts of Nazir or Asma.Ahmed and his companions, then, brutally beat up and stripped more than 10 women in the house. Then they attacked Manzoor Bibi – Nazir’s mother-in-law and paraded her naked around the village, before kidnapping her.Ahmed told Nazir’s father-in-law that he would return his wife when Asma was returned.After the incident, police immediately filed an FIR against Nazir and his companions.On the other hand, police of the Kundayi police station lodged an FIR against 36 known and 25 unknown residents of the village in Mehmood Bibi’s case. SHO Syed Asghar Bukhari confirmed the arrests of three unknown and 23 known suspected people.Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also took notice of the incident of Mehmood Bibi and ordered DPO Muzafarhgarh Rao Munir Zia to immediately arrest the criminals.*Names have been changed to protect identitiesPublished in The Express Tribune, March 4, 2012.