Day: August 19, 2009

LAHORE: A former army soldier gunned down his wife after a fight over unpaid rent in the Millat Park police precincts on Tuesday.

According to police, accused Ashiq, currently working as a security guard in Ichhra, had a quarrel with his wife Hanifan (50) over the house rent pending for the past two months. Police said the family also owed bills to a local general store and a milk shop. The Millat Park Police Station duty officer told Daily Times that Ashiq had his gun on him when the quarrel started as it was time for him to leave for work. He said Ashiq lost his temper and shot his wife in the head. She was taken to hospital, where she died.
Source: Daily Times
Date:8/19/2009

KARACHI: Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister, Sharmila Farooqui Tuesday said the government had decided to establish a Women Job Placement Centre. Speaking at the 8th meeting of Women Entrepreneur Sub-committee of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), she said the centre would work in close co-ordination with trade bodies and private sector to help women get jobs in private and public sectors.

Replying to a question about women police station, she said the government had decided to appoint at least one or two women police inspectors in each police station in the province. “Notification in this regard had already been issued and vacancies had been created. However real problem was that women were not interested to join police service. The vacancies were still vacant.”

Regarding the establishment of separate women police station in every district, Sharmila Farooqui said it was not possible due to paucity of funds. Referring to women empowerment, she said empowerment of women on social and economic fronts was the top priority of the Pakistan People’s Party in line with its manifesto.

She said the government was pursuing the implementation of existing laws to protect women rights and prepared a new bill 2009 to protect women against violence and honour killing Sharmila Farooqui said the government was making efforts to promote women artisans of the interior of Sindh and planned to establish a display centre of their products at Karachi airport. The government had recently established Sindh Bank, she said and added the bank would provide soft loans to women artisans.

She advised members of the KCCI to visit the interior of Sindh and see the products and encourage them to get reasonable return of their work. Chairperson of the Women Entrepreneur Sub-committee, Durre Shahwar Nisar said KCCI’s women delegation would participate in “WeTex”2009 scheduled to be held from August 24 to 29 at Dhaka, Bangladesh. KCCI President, Anjum Nisar sought her support for organising some helpful events in collaboration with the chamber for promoting women entrepreneurs.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:8/19/2009

By Ishaq Tanoli

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday indicted two policemen on charges of kidnap, rape and murder of a three-year-old girl.

Judge Syed Hasan Shah Bukhari of the ATC-I read out the charges against the traffic police constables, Bashir Ahmed and Noor Mohammad, stating that the suspects committed rape and murder intentionally after kidnapping the girl, Sana, in Noorani Basti in Korangi, and thereby committed the crimes punishable under Sections 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 10), 376 (punishment for rape) and 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code within the cognizance of his court.

“I further charge you (suspects) that in furtherance of your common intension on above date and place, committed the offences of kidnapping, rape and qatl-e-amd, which created terror, a sense of fear and insecurity among the family members of victim and public, thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 7 (a), (b) & (c) Anti-terrorism Act 1997 within the cognizance of this court,” the judge stated.

However, the suspects denied the charges and opted to contest the case. The court summoned prosecution witnesses to record their statements on the next date of hearing.

The court adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.

Earlier, the investigation officer stated in the charge-sheet that two witnesses had identified the suspects and assigned their role in the commissioning of the crime during an identification parade held in the court of a judicial magistrate. The witnesses also recorded their statements against the suspects under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code before the magistrate, he added.

The section of a sexual assault was not initially included in the charge-sheet, but medical evidence from the chemical examiner’s office confirmed that the girl was subjected to it before her death, and it was therefore added to the charge-sheet by the IO.

The prosecution said that the victim’s body was recovered from a manhole near the FTC building on a lead given by the suspects following their arrest on July 5. Later, both the suspects were remanded in judicial custody.

The victim’s father, Mohammad Qasim, mother Rashida, neighbours/relatives Saeedullah, Noor Mohammad, Mohammad Yasin, Munir Ahmed, Abdul Rahim, complainant Abdul Hashim, Sub-Inspector Saleem, ASIs Abdul Khaliq, Faraz Ali and Jan Mohammad of the Zaman Town police station, Inspector Yousuf Khan and Sub-Inspector Ghias Khan of the traffic police, Medico-Legal Officers Dr Abdul Jabbar and Dr Fareeda Mobin, Chemical Examiner Dr Fazal Elahi, Judicial Magistrate Malik Akhtar Hussain and Investigation Officer Mohammad Arshad are the prosecution witnesses in the case.

Special Public Prosecutor Mohammad Khan Buriro said that the trial would be conducted on a day-to-day basis and the case was likely to be decided by the end of this month.

According to the prosecution, Head Constable Bashir Ahmed and Constable Noor Mohammad of the traffic police were arrested for kidnapping three-year-old Sana, daughter of Mohammad Qasim, on July 3 when she was playing with her friends near her house in Korangi. They allegedly subjected her to a sexual assault, killed her and dumped the body into a manhole near the FTC building.

A case (FIR 331/2009) was registered against the suspects under Sections 364, 376 and 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 6(b) punishable under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 on the complaint of the victim’s uncle, Abdul Hashim, at the Zaman Town police station.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/19/2009

LAHORE: Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s counsel on Tuesday filed a contempt of court petition in the Lahore High Court against interior and foreign affairs ministries for releasing $20 million to American lawyers for defence of the Pakistan woman in US courts, in violation of a court order.

Ms Siddiqui’s counsel Iqbal Jafree submitted in the court that the LHC had restrained the federal government from releasing the money to three American lawyers on Aug 12 and told it to withhold the payment till a decision of the case. He said the government released the amount for payment to American lawyers in violation of the LHC order and prayed to the court to initiate contempt proceedings against interior and foreign affairs ministries.

Already, Jafree has challenged the allocation of $20 million by the government for Ms Siddiqui’s defence in the US and expressed the fear that the money could go be misappropriated.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/19/2009

SUKKUR: A teenage girl and two women were killed on Tuesday in different parts of Sindh, including Badin or Laar (lower part of the province) which rarely sees deadly violence against woman.

The teenage girl along with her alleged paramour was gunned down by her cousin in the Bangla Syedan area in Jacobabad district. Hazar Bux Jatoi suspected that his cousin Rasheeda, 18, had illicit relations with Qabil Jatoi.

While Rasheeda was preparing meals, Hazar Bux came to her house and shot her dead. Later, he raided the house of Qabil Jatoi and gunned him down.

On information, the Abad police took the bodies to Civil Hospital Jacobabad for autopsy. Later, the police arrested Hazar Bux and recovered a pistol from his possession.

However, no case was registered.

In another incident, a woman, Naseeban, was strangled to death by her husband Harchand Meghwar over some domestic dispute in Yaroo Loond, Ghotki district.

No case was registered.

In Badin district, young housewife Asiyat Chang was killed by her husband Ali Nawaz Chang in Sher Khan Chang village, the neighbours said.

They said that over a petty domestic dispute, Ali Nawaz caught his wife by throat till she died on the spot.

The police have registered a murder case and handed over the body to parents of the victim after post-mortem.

In Naushahro Feroze district, a young man is said to have mistakenly killed his mother while cleaning a pistol in Darbelo.

According to family sources, Ghulam Shabbir Solangi, 16, was cleaning his father’s pistol but was not aware that it was loaded. As he pressed the trigger, a bullet came out of the barrel and hit his mother Soan Khatoon, 45. She died on the spot.

The body was handed over to relatives after post-mortem from a Kandiaro hospital. The Darbelo police have lodged a report, accordingly.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/19/2009