Published on June 7, 2020
A chilling abuse of authority
Khairpur, Sindh: A married girl from Sindh’s Khairpur district alleged that she was abducted and gang-raped by three police officials on the second day of Eid ul Fitar, 25 May. The woman named S* also alleged that she was set free by the abductors after five days on 30 May, but only after paying a hefty amount as ransom.
In a chilling revelation about police’s abuse of power, the survivor’s husband R* told voicepk.net that they were returning from S*’s house in Nara village where they had gone to celebrate Eid. On their way back home, the tire of the motorbike got punctured.“We were standing on the roadside, waiting for some help to arrive, when suddenly a wagon stopped near us and some men in police uniforms piled out of it,” the husband says. “The uniformed men forced us to sit in their vehicle and tortured us.”
Recalling the details of the incident, S* said that the policemen stopped the wagon in the middle of the road, and then they transferred them into a Vigo SUV.“Liquor bottles and some weapons were there in the Vigo,” said S*. “Then they took us to a bungalow and locked us (husband and wife) in separate rooms. After sometime four drunk men came into the room and they raped and beat me very badly.”
S* said that she went through this ordeal for five days while the abductors kept demanding money from her family. “After receiving the ransom, they took us to a village Chandkoo and set us free”.
The survivor claimed that she could identify four of the men who raped and abducted her. According to her, the four suspects were Altaf Khaskheli, Waseem Shar, Junaid, and Nisar. It is well known by locals that Khaskeli, Shar, and Junaid are police officials. The survivor also alleged that she was also filmed while being raped.
Police Protect Their Own
The victim couple tried to register an FIR against the suspected men but the police did not cooperate with them. However after the incident went viral on social media and there was increasing pressure from rights activists, the police finally lodged an FIR on charges of rape and illegal confinement.
Despite lodging the FIR, the police have not yet arrested any of the accused.Dr. Ayesha Dharejo, a women rights activist said that the police are trying to save their fellow police officials and are not giving any protection to the complainants.
Dr. Ayesha Dharejo said, “The victims are being threatened by tribal elders who want to settle the matter according to tribal rules. The accused are roaming free and threatening the survivors that they will leak the videos on the internet. Dr. Dharejo demanded that the police should provide protection to the couple and immediately arrest all the culprits involved in this horrific incident.
