National Assembly Human Rights Committee orders fresh probe into Ayat Noor case

ISLAMABAD

A meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights was held under the chair of Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar.

During the meeting, the murder of Hina Javed was discussed as well as the rape and murder of five year old Ayat Noor from Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the harassment case of Dr Ayesha.

The CPO Rawalpindi briefed the committee about the Hina Javed murder case and said that the initial evidence made it clear that the incident was not a robbery or suicide, but clearly a murder.

Scientific methods were used during the investigation, and 80 pieces of evidence were collected from the crime scene. He said that reports from the Punjab Forensic Agency were still being received. The CPO said that if 8 to 10 people are named in an FIR, it does not mean that all of them are arrested. An investigation is carried out first.

He said that the household employee Zeeshan Arshad lived in the apartment where the incident took place, while the victim’s father in law was kept in custody for three days.

The CPO said that, given the current situation, details of the investigation could not be made public, and the statement of the victim’s husband could also not be shared here. At this point, committee members asked that hanging someone from an electric wire in the shower and placing a pillow over her face are clear signs of murder, so why was the father in law not arrested and why was no call made to 15.

Committee member Naz Baloch questioned that if the employee was admitting everything, where was the husband? Sehar Kamran asked for a timeline for solving the case. Committee members mentioned the concerns of Hina’s family and asked whether CCTV footage had been obtained. Naz Baloch said that if the family was not satisfied, they could be called to the next committee meeting.

During the meeting, MNA Babar Nawaz raised the case of Ayat Noor, a young girl from Haripur who was raped and later murdered.

He said that on August 10, a 12 year old boy lured Ayat Noor from outside her home, after which she went missing. When her dead body was found on the fifteenth day, it was discovered that she had been dead for a week. This means that the girl had remained alive inside the well for five days. He said that the police had arrested three minors after 15 days, forced her father to give a statement under Section 164, while the child who had called her out of the house had appeared in the footage of only one of 25 cameras. That camera was near the university, but later it was found that the child in the footage was someone else.

Babar Nawaz called the police reports ‘worthless’ and alleged that DSP Haripur Samina Zafar behaved disrespectfully with the girl’s father and mother.

During this, Babar Nawaz and the chairperson had an argument, and Babar Nawaz started to leave the meeting. However, he returned to his seat after members requested him to stay. After Sher Afzal Marwat expressed his anger and intervened, the seriousness of the matter was discussed.

RPO Nasir Satti said in his briefing that out of 71 missing children, 70 had been found.

However, a report about this incident was registered on the 12th against unknown persons because the father had also written “unknown” in the report. He said that all four nominated suspects are minors and that there is a lack of Safe City infrastructure in Hazara. Member Zeb Jaffar questioned the delay in registering the report, while Sehar Kamran questioned the use of the Zainab Alert system.

Sher Afzal Marwat mentioned giving one crore rupees in compensation to the girl’s father, while the chairperson said that money cannot replace the parents’ loss. Instead, 30 to 35 crore rupees should be spent on improving the Safe City system.

Sher Afzal Marwat said that because the suspects are minors, they would not receive the death penalty, but the performance of the police should still be reviewed.

Babar Nawaz expressed dissatisfaction with the Haripur police and demanded the establishment of a judicial commission. In response, the DPO Hazara gave a briefing, and Sher Afzal Marwat also mentioned the final injuries suffered by the girl. He announced that he would visit the DPO office with Babar Nawaz on the 10th.

The committee ordered a fresh investigation into the incident through a new team and sought a report on action against DSP Samina Zafar.

The harassment case of Dr Ayesha was also discussed in the meeting, where Dr Ayesha Khan appeared in person.

Crying, she told the committee that Vice Chancellor of Health Services Academy, Dr Shehzad Ali Khan had physically harassed and assaulted her at the academy. She said that after being beaten on July 17, 2025, she was suspended on the 18th.

At the occasion of New Year, false FIRs were also registered against her. She fought the case for six months and got her position back. She submitted all the evidence to the Federal Ombudsman, FOSPAH, where a decision was given in her favor on February 13, but the decision was stopped.

Even though another decision was given in her favor on August 12, the plate with her name was removed. During the meeting, Dr Shehzad Ali Khan’s wife also appeared and said that Dr Ayesha had been harassing her family for two years and had entered their home. She said that all the cases were currently being heard in court.

However, Naz Baloch and other committee members rejected her position without hearing the alleged harasser or the other party, while Sher Afzal Marwat suggested that her position should also be heard.

On the same matter, the Director of Coordination at the Ministry of Human Rights said that a summary and three names had been sent to the Prime Minister so that a new Vice Chancellor could be appointed and the FOSPAH decision could be implemented.

Sher Afzal Marwat made it clear that nothing more could now be said about the decisions of the President’s House and the authorized forum, while Shahida Rehmani said that every girl does not have millions of rupees to fight a legal case. The Standing Committee strongly condemned all the incidents that had taken place and directed that practical steps should be taken to prevent such sad incidents in the future.