Provincial Home Minister assures of ANP leader’s recovery
Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove, during a meeting on Wednesday, January 20 with Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Muhammad Asghar Khan Achakzai, Excise and Taxation Minister Naeem Bazai and Ms. Shahina Kakar, assured the party representatives of the government’s concerned efforts for the recovery of Asad Khan Achakzai. Asad Khan is the ANP Balochistan chapter’s information secretary, and was picked up with unidentified men in October 2020. He has been missing since.
Faisalabad minor becomes pregnant after rape
A 13-year-old girl who has been living at a women’s shelter in Faisalabad since November was found to be three months pregnant on December 30. A case under the charge of rape has been registered with the Chak Jhumra police.
According to an application submitted by Robina Iqbal Cheema, a child protection officer at the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB), the police reached out to the bureau after rescuing the girl. She was then produced before a child court and remained in custody temporarily before she was shifted to Darul Aman.
On December 30, a superintendent at the shelter informed the bureau that the girl was feeling ill. On December 31, a court ordered a medical examination at the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital, following which the girl was found to be three-and-a-half months pregnant. Her handlers believe that the minor may have been raped while in illegal custody.
However, the teen has not divulged to the police any information save her surname. Police further state that the girl had not informed them of anything at the time of rescue, and that no torture marks were found during a cursory examination.
Hayat Baloch’s killer gets death penalty
Turbat District and Sessions Court Judge Rafique Ahmed on Wednesday handed down the death penalty to a Frontier Corps (FC) officer for gunning down Karachi University student Hayat Baloch last August.
Hayat was residing with his family in the Absar area of Turbat following the closure of all campuses due to the coronavirus pandemic. He had been working with his father in their field on August 13, 2020 when an improvised explosive device targeting FC vehicles at a nearby patrol route went off, injuring three personnel in their vehicle. The officers launched a search operation – Shadiullah attacked Hayat, cuffing him and throwing him to the ground before shooting him dead.
According to Hayat’s brother Murad, his parents have welcomed the court’s decision.