Rights Watch | 15th July 2020

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Rights Watch

Activists demand new FIR in Jamshoro murder case

Activists representing various human rights bodies, including the Women’s Action Forum, Let Women Live, and the Democratic Women Front, have demanded registration of a fresh FIR pertaining to the death of Waziran Chachar, a young woman whose disfigured body was found on the side of a road in Jamshoro, Sindh on June 27.

Following a comprehensive fact-finding mission, the committee released a report which found that the original FIR, filed by the victim’s family, is riddled with deliberate flaws, and is incomplete and lacking in relevant sections of the law.

Furthermore, given that police are still considering whether or not the young woman’s family were involved in her murder, and are investigating as to whether this may be an honor killing, the committee felt that a new FIR should be filed on behalf of the state to prevent jeopardizing the case.

Minor girl dies after gang rape

An eight-year-old girl who was drugged, tortured and then raped by two men succumbed to the injuries she had sustained during the ordeal in a hospital in Sialkot.

The assault took place in Battar Dogran-Chawinda village in Pasrur tehsil on Monday, July 13. According to the police report, the victim was outside her residence playing when the suspects gave her a laced drink. The girl was then abducted and taken to a deserted building where she was subjected to severe torture and sexual assault. The girl’s screaming alerted some locals who rescued her, although her assailants had already fled by then. Her family took her to the hospital, but medical attention came too late for the critically injured child, who passed away on the morning of Tuesday, July 14.

Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Mustansar Feroze visited the victim’s family to assure them that justice would be served, while Badina police shifted the victim’s body to the Pasrur tehsil headquarters (THQ) Civil Hospital for an autopsy. Two male suspects nominated in the FIR filed bu the victim’s father have been arrested.

Two shot dead for ‘honor’ in Charsadda

A widow and a man were shot dead inside the former’s home on Tuesday, July 14. Police suspect her in-laws may be involved in what is being investigated as an honor killing. The female victim’s brother-in-law told police that he had seen a stranger (the male victim) enter her house. He soon informed his brother and a cousin about the matter, and stated that the latter two men entered their former sister-in-law’s home. Upon hearing voices coming from one of the rooms, the two broke in and opened fire, killing both the man and the woman. The police have reportedly arrested the accused.

Women murdered by husbands in separate incidents

Muhammad Arshad tortured and then gunned down his wife, Shamim Bibi (28), following an altercation over a minor domestic issue on Tuesday, July 14. The incident transpired in a remote

village in Dingi Union Council of Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the Kot Najibullah police, Muhammad Arshad had a falling out with his wife over preparations for lunch that day, after which he violently beat her before shooting her dead in their home in Pehdiyan village.

In a separate incident, Sijawal Junejo police booked one Muhammad Esa Magsi for reportedly murdering his wife Azizan Magsi (37) for honor. The murder took place in their home in Sijawal Junejo of Qambar Shahdadkot district in Larkana, Sindh. The murder weapon used by Magsi has been recovered, and Sujawal Junejo SHO Ahsaan Ali Buledi has stated that the police will file an FIR on the complaint of the victim’s family.

These cases reflect numerous warnings by mental health experts and human rights activists regarding the rise of domestic abuse and violence against women in the country.