‘Another Mukhtaran Mai’ suffers in Chiniot

CHINIOT, July 06 2005: Eleven persons kidnapped a married woman from a village, gang-raped, humiliated and tortured her for three consecutive days, suspecting that her auntie had played a role in the elopement of the daughter of the main accused.

Fauzia Bibi, a 25-year-old woman of Adda Burjian, was living a happy life with her husband Altaf Hussain and had three children till last month when she was kidnapped.

About midnight 11 armed persons, including Anwar, Akbar, Ghulam Ali, Sajid and others, rode to her house on horses, dragged her out of her bed and took her away. They also thrashed her uncle Nawaz when he resisted them. They took her to a deserted farmhouse on the bank of the river Chenab where they started gang-raped.

They tore off her clothes and told her to dance. When she refused, they tortured her. They forcibly poured liquor in her mouth. She cried and begged for mercy, but they did not relent and continued humiliating and persecuting her. They repeated their satanic acts the next day.

They threw her in a pond and announced that they had avenged the elopement of their girl. Later, they brought her to Ghulam Ali’s house, and shut her there for two days. A police party recovered her from there.

According to The News investigation, Shabana, the daughter of the main accused Anwar Ali, eloped with her paramour Mumtaz some months ago. She was brought back and married to another person. However, the case was not reported to police.

In Fauzia case police have registered a case, recovered the girl and arrested three of the accused persons, Fauzia is not satisfied. When this scribe went to see her, she looked desperate. She said she was receiving threats from the accused party to withdraw the case otherwise they would kidnap her entire family. “They attacked my house thrice. We informed the police, but they took no action,” she complained. Her house is hardly 200 metres from Adda Burjian check-post where the firing of the accused was heard at the time of her abduction, but no police official came to her help, she said.

“Had the police chased the culprits, I would not have suffered the ordeal. I am living under a permanent threat. I have nightmares about the gang-rape. I cannot sleep, and cannot see my relatives and friends, ” she said.

Fauzia has appealed to the Jhang DPO, DIG Faisalabad; the Punjab chief minister and Human Rights organisations to help her get justice.

When contacted, Investigation Officer Sharif Lalira said investigation was going on and the three of the accused had been arrested. Police were conducting raids to arrest the others.

ASP Chiniot Hamayun Masood Sindhu, when contacted, said the cases in which gang-rape actually happened were very rare. In most of such cases, women were used to accuse the rivals and to blackmail them.
Source: The News
Date:7/6/2005