Jirga member held again: Ayub Goth rape case

KARACHI, Aug 29 2005: Police have again picked up one of the members of a jirga, that had ‘tried’ two alleged rapists, for his act of concealing the gang-rape and providing shelter to the rapists.

The jirga member, Hussain Bux Chandio, was arrested in Larkana and was being taken to Karachi, according to reports on Sunday August 28. He, and another member of the jirga, Moharram Chandio, had earlier been produced before a court which had ordered their release on bail.

Police said that a number of other cases were registered against them at Sachal police station for their alleged involvement in land-grabbing.

Hussain, Moharram and other people of Ayub Goth in Gulshan-i-Iqbal had held the jirga during which the woman, Mariam Bano, claiming to be the victim of gang-rape, was forced to avoid legal proceedings against the accused.

According to the police investigation, four persons had abducted the 35-year-old woman and subjected her to gang-rape at gunpoint on July 7.

Investigating Officer Shahid Qureshi said that the police had arrested one of the two alleged rapists, Asmatullah Chandio, and took his remand till August 26. However, the other alleged rapist, Mohammad Yunus Sial, is still at large. Police said that the two alleged accomplices of the accused were also absconding and police were making efforts to arrest them.

According to Mariam Bano, she was abducted on July 7 by Asmatullah, Yunus Sial and others who took her to an unknown place and gang-raped her. She said she had been threatened with dire consequences and her husband, Abdur Rasheed, did not go to the police in fear. However, when her brother, Hussain, came to know about the incident after about a month, he got a case registered against the accused.

Source: Dawn

Date:8/29/2005