Day: July 24, 2012

By: Rabia Ali

KARACHI: Almost a year ago, 22-year-old Hina had filled out the customary paperwork to receive a loan of Rs0.3 million from the Waseela-e-Haq scheme of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The form identified her as an unemployed but educated young woman who was eager to start her own business.

But Hina had no such plans. Like most women who filled out the BISP forms, Hina too applied for income support so that the men in her family could have money to start their own business. She wanted money so that her father could set up a general store near their house.

In fact, most of the young women who received cash from the Waseela-e-Haq scheme have aided the men of their family instead of setting up their own businesses, which is what the scheme is intended for.

“My family won’t allow me to go outside and work, let alone start a business,” said Hina. Her father, Abdul Aziz, used to run a paan kiosk. Now he was looking for money to set up another shop. “A woman’s work is within the house only,” he said. “It is up to the man to feed his family.”

The Waseela-e-Haq programme began earlier this year in Sindh. It provides interest-free loans to young people, between the ages of 19 and 35 years, who know how to read or write or have at least passed their matric. Though the scheme is meant for both men and women, most of the participants are women and they indeed seem to make most use of it.

Another young woman, whom The Express Tribune talked to, was selected from thousands of candidates by the BISP to receive business training. She said that it was easy for women to get selected for such monetary schemes. “The government prefers women since it wants us to be independent,” she said. “But our families do not like us working outside.” She received training about managing an electronics shop by the BISP and now she will train her father who will soon own the shop.

To look for beneficiaries, the BISP distributes applications to people across the country. The eligible candidates are selected through a balloting process and a phone call informs them about their selection. After the applicants submitted their documents, which include a matric certificate and a copy of their identity card, they are invited to receive business training.

The seventh batch of the Waseela-e-Haq programme graduated on Monday at the office of the deputy commissioner east after a week of training. All of the 86 participants, who had applied a year ago, were informed of their selection in June.

Even though the host of the programme was announcing the unique business proposals made by women, it was the men who were sitting at the back of the crowded who couldn’t wipe the grins off their faces. Shahnawaz, whose sister had applied for running a mobile shop, kept smiling as he said he will be able to support his five children now. “I work as a security guard at a private firm but it isn’t enough,” he said. “Now with my own business I can earn more money.” However, he refused to share the profits with his sister.

Twenty-year-old Mehwish from Karimabad, received praises when she was called on the stage to receive her certificate on her plan of setting up an auto-rickshaw business. But, when the The Express Tribune talked to her after the ceremony, she said that she will use the money to buy a rickshaw for her father.

According to the BISP’s provincial media officer, Shafquat Ali, most the candidates of the batch were women. “We encourage young women to come forward and set up their work,” he said. “We will keep a tab on their businesses. They will get Rs0.15million in the first installment. The rest will be paid a month later.”

The chief guest, Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, claimed that 0.8 million women had applied to the scheme and had identity cards made because of it.

But only a handful of women will fulfill the purpose of the scheme. Sana Ruqaiqa, who stitches clothes for a living and takes care of her sick father, said that she will use the money to set up a boutique.

The Express Tribune

By: Raheel Salman

KARACHI: A kidnapping ring in Karachi is abducting women and ‘arranges’ their marriages in rural Sindh. This came to surface after a woman, Rifat Jahan, was found from a remote area near Faiz Ganj, in Khairpur district.

Jahan’s husband, Mehmood Ali, had registered a case for his wife’s kidnapping on June 19 at Super Market police station. He had stated that his wife had been kidnapped with their two children, 2.5 -year old Mashail and five-year-old Mehrooz.

According to Ali, the kidnappers did not call him for ransom. While being held hostage, Jahan managed to send her husband a text message but she couldn’t tell him where she was. Sometime later, she sent another text, through a maid of the house she was being kept in and told her husband that she was being held near Faiz Ganj.

When the kidnappers found out that Jahan sent a text they beat her severely. The investigation officer, Karim Dad, told Express News that Jahan’s husband had informed the police immediately about the text. The police took help of Citizens-Police Liaison Committee and were able to trace Jahan’s location.

When the police raided the house, the captors escaped with Jahan and her children. However, Jahan was found after couple of hours when they searched the area. She told the police that her kidnappers were forcing her to get married. There were four men and two women in the house where she was kept.

Karim Dad believed that the kidnappers had been tipped off before the raid and escaped. The mobile SIM used by Jahan for sending texts was registered in the name of Abdul Rehman. But when the police traced the address they found out that Rehman had died several years ago. They also searched the houses nearby but found nothing to help the case.

The Express Tribune

By: Owais Jafri

MULTAN: Mehmood Kot police have told three men accused of killing a girl by setting her on fire not to leave the town until investigation of the case was complete.

Police said the men mentioned in the FIR were not arrested because Khadim Hussain, the principal suspect, had obtained an interim bail from a court on July 21 after the death of his nephew’s second wife, Asma Bibi, 18.

Investigation Officer Rana Javed said they were investigating the case and if needed would request the court to cancel the bail. He said he believed the girl may have died of burns suffered from a fire started by a cigarette.

The FIR accuses Khadim Hussain, his brother Hashim Hussain and nephew Rab Nawaz (husband of the deceased), residents of Qasba Gujrat, of killing the girl.

The case was registered on July 20 by Muhammad Qadeer, brother of the deceased and a resident of Karimabad area, for attempted murder. The murder charge was added after Asma Bibi’s death on July 21 (Saturday).

Asma Bibi had died after remaining under treatment for burn injuries at Nishter Hospital for 11 days. She was hospitalized on July 10, four days after she was burned in her sleep on July 6. Qadeer said Khadim Hussain had set her on fire.

Doctors who treated her at Nishtar Hospital told The Express Tribune that over 70 per cent of her body, including both legs and abdomen, were burned. They said her condition had been critical by the time she was hospitalised. The girl remained on life support for two days before passing away, they added. They said the treatment given to the deceased before hospitalisation had aggravated her condition.

In her statement to the media at the hospital, the deceased had accused Khadim Hussain of setting her on fire. She had said that she was sleeping when the suspect, a neighbour, broke into her house and set her on fire after dousing her with kerosene oil.

Speaking to The Express Tribune at Asma Bibi’s funeral prayers, her husband Rab Nawaz, alleged that his uncle borne her a grudge ever since their marriage four months ago. “My first wife was related to my uncle. He wanted me to go back to her,” he said. He said she had left him for another man in the neighbourhood. “They eloped about eight months ago and settled in another village,” he added.

He said Khadim Hussain would frequently try to persuade him to go to his first wife’s and ask her to return.

He said he was not home when Asma Bibi was burned.

Complainant Qadeer insisted that all three men were involved in his sister’s killing. He said her in-laws had not informed her family about the incident. “We found out about her condition through a neighbour when she was taken to Nishter Hospital,” he said

The Express Tribune

Karachi: A mother of three children was killed in the Mochko police limits on Monday.Zulekha, 30, suffered bullet wounds when two men opened fire on her in her residence in the Nawab Colony and fled.Her neighbours took her to the Civil Hospital, where she breathed her last. SHO Mochko told The News that the woman had entered into a love marriage contract about 10 years back. Zulekha was killed over some personal enmity, he said.Some unidentified men had killed her husband five years back. Since then she had been living with her children.

The News

ISLAMABAD: Frustrated with a new twist given by police to the case of lynching of a poor woman in Khanewal, the Supreme Court gave the federal as well as Punjab governments on Monday three days to take appropriate action against the entire provincial police hierarchy or face an adverse order.

“It is the duty of the executive government to move forward and ensure enforcement of the fundamental rights including security of the citizen,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed while dictating an order after lengthy proceedings on the barbaric incident.

“We are of the opinion that the police officers including the Inspector General to DAG, DPO to SHO don’t deserve to occupy such important positions of enforcing the law,” the order said. Had the IG or the DPO realised the seriousness of the crime they would have timely rushed to the crime scene, it said.

A three-judge bench comprising the chief justice, Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain had taken notice of the stoning to death of the woman at Chak 15 in Kacha Koh, about 12km from Khanewal.

Maryam Bibi, 35, a mother of five, was cutting grass in the fields of local landlord Raja Mehbub who reportedly forced her to submit to his sexual advances. When she refused, the landlord levelled allegations against the woman and took the matter to a local Panchayat (council of elders) which ordered that the woman be stoned to death. The order was carried out in her home in the wee hours of July 18.

Her husband Sarfraz was abducted, but later recovered. Conflicting reports were given by police about the place where he was found.

On Monday, the entire team of senior police officers headed by Inspector General of Punjab Haji Habibur Rehman and other officers from DAG to DPO appeared before the court and took the plea that a fresh investigation had revealed that Maryam’s husband had killed her with bricks.

Not amused by the story, the Supreme Court read out the entire FIR, supplementary reports and other relevant documents to establish that even Sarfraz Ahmed, the husband, and the doctors who had conducted the autopsy did not corroborate with what police were saying. “Plea being raised by police that Sarfraz has confessed is absolutely incorrect,” the order said.

During the proceedings, Mohammad Siddiq, father of Sarfraz, who came to court along with children of Maryam, rejected in a choked voice the allegations levelled by police against his son.

“These facts prima facie indicates that the serious crime of stoning (to death) has not been dealt with fairly nor the background of the case has been taken seriously,” the judgment said. “Such attitude sends a negative message and shakes the confidence of the citizens who believe in the rule of law.”

The court recalled that in a case relating to the killing of a youth, Sarfraz Shah, by the Rangers in Karachi in 2011, not only the Sindh IG but also the DG Rangers who was an army general had been transferred.

In compliance with the last court orders, Advocate General of Punjab Ashtar Ausaf had brought the incident to the notice of the chief minister. However, Deputy Attorney General Shafi Chandio could not communicate it to the prime minister.

The court asked the federal and provincial governments to take appropriate actions against the police officers in three days and convey the decision to the registrar or the Supreme Court would issue an order in this regard.

The new officers whenever appointed to replace the present police team will resume investigations independently. The court also ordered the IG and PPO to provide protection to the family of Sarfraz.

Dawn