Assault victim receives threats for seeking justice

ISLAMABAD: Sonia Naz, an assault victim, told the Supreme Court on Monday that she was receiving threats from her tormenters for taking the matter to the court.

Ms Naz appeared before a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and claimed that after the last hearing on March 30, she had received a call from Khurram Bajwa, an inmate serving a jail term, threatening that she would suffer for having taken the case to the apex court.

Advocate Zulfikar Bhutta is representing the rape victim.

Punjab’s additional advocate-general Rana Jawwad assured the court that a case would soon be registered.

He read out a report prepared by police after Punjab’s secretary services had asked higher officials to take an action against the police officers involved in the rape that had taken place in 2005.

The accused police officers include former Faisalabad DIG Chaudhry Sajjad Ahmad, SP Abdullah Khalid, SDPO Sardar Jhang Ashig Ali, DSP Rasheed Ahmad Malik, DSP Mansoor Ahmad and ASP Naeem Ahmad.

Abdullah Khalid, an absconder, retired in May 2006.

Khalid later surrendered to the relevant court which accepted his surety bond on March 30.

Another show-cause notice on fresh grounds was issued to Inspector Jamshed Iqbal Chishti, the main character in the case.

About registration of the case of murder of Mohammad Yousaf, father-in-law of Sonia Naz, the court was told that the FIR had been registered on April 13, 2012, while he had been killed in July 2007.

The case is under investigation.

The court declared the report unsatisfactory and asked police to complete investigation by May 10 in the light of an inquiry earlier conducted by former DIG Zafar Qureshi who had found allegations against accused Khalid Abdullah and Inspector Jamshed Chishti about Sonia’s rape as substantial.

Mr Qureshi had also recommended a comprehensive probe against the accused after the registration of FIR saying the evidence produced by Sonia Naz to substantiate the charges of rape were powerful and convincing.

Dawn