By: Sidrah Roghay
Karachi: A rape survivor’s fight for justice has brought her to Karachi. Twenty-two-year-old Beena*, principal of a private school, says five men from Dadu had kidnapped her on October 25 and taken her to an undisclosed location, where one of them, Fayyaz Mirani, raped her.
“Every time I left the house for work Fayyaz would pass lewd remarks at me,” she told The News at the office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Monday.She ignored them thinking it was nothing serious. “Then, on October 25 he came to me with four of his friends, put a gun to my head, blindfolded me and took me to a strange house. There he raped me.”
Beena says it was when Fayyaz left the room to receive a phone call that she ran out of the open door to safety. “I could hear him speaking to my other kidnappers, asking them to come to the house so that they could rape me too.”
She escaped to the women’s police station in Dadu and filed a complaint against two of the accused. However, the main accused Fayyaz was released on bail. It took the police three days to take her to a medico-legal officer for an examination, and that too after she paid them Rs5,000.
In rape cases medical examination should be conducted as soon as possible, otherwise there is no circumstantial evidence when the case is tried in court, and only the allegations of the rape survivor against the rapist.
“The medical report stated that there was no sexual intercourse. Fayyaz paid the medico-legal officer to tamper with the evidence,” claimed Beena. She said since she had started fighting her case in court, her house in Dadu was often attacked, adding that her sister and brother-in-law lived in that house under a constant threat.
She claims she receives phone calls and text messages from her rapist. “My life is threatened. My tribe does not support my decision to go to court. All I ask is for justice.”The HRCP’s Asad Butt said: “Like in most rape cases, the attitude of the police and delay in a medical examination has complicated this case.”
He said Beena’s case had been referred to a lawyer. “She will be sent to a shelter home while her case is under trial.”* Name changed to protect privacy
