In
September 2015, Safia Bibi , a deaf and dumb Christian woman was raped at gun
point in her house in village Gonda Ganda Singh Wala near Kasur. Three young
men went to her house, two of them stood guard near the window while one, M.
Umar allegedly committed the criminal act.
The
Nation talked to Mr. Saleem Iqbal, The Director of Care Council of Human Rights
to ask him about this case. He said on September 22, an FIR was lodged in the
case on questioning the accused M.Umar accepted having committed the offence in
front of the investigating officer. The other two are walking free, he added.
“The
police was asked by Safia Bibi’s lawyers to interrogate the case on merit.
During the court hearing Safia Bibi not only identified the person who raped
her but also narrated the whole incident by sign language to file her
testimony.”
Mr.
Iqbal continued: “The medical test that was conducted when Safia Bibi went to
lodge a complaint against M. Umer has been declared untenable as there are no
marks of force being used, and secondly as she was a married woman, which made
it very difficult to ascertain if she was raped or not. The other issue was
that the DNA could not be preserved as it was raining on the day of incident
and the woman was soaked wet on way to the Police Station resulting in the
evidence being washed away.”
“The
accused filed for bail which was granted without any hurdle as they were
influentials of the area. Now Safia Bibi and her husband Khalid Masih along
with their child have left the area due to threats being given to them to
withdraw the accusation. However, they are not ready to take the case back and
are seeking justice and plan to go to the High Court if needed. There are many
loop holes in the police case which are being ignored. The couple were
approached and offered money as compensation, which they accepted, yet they
want the culprits to be punished.”
When
asked if they were approached by any high officials or politicians as is done
usually in such cases, he said, “We had sent our papers to Kamran Michael (the
Advisor to the PM for Minority Affairs) but so far there has been no response
from him.”
On
being asked about the Shama and Shehzad burning case in which a group of people
burnt the couple in a brick kiln in-front of their kids in Kot Radha Kishan
alleging blasphemy, he added: “No one came forward to help them rather people
watched as the couple burn to ashes. Once the news spread it was condemned in
almost all quarters.”
“The
case is going in the right direction and the government and the police have
been very helpful.126 people have been arrested in the gruesome murder of Shama
and Shehzad;(we hope) soon more would be arrested and punished for this crime.”
The
kids of the burnt couple were a major concern for everyone and he spoke of
their condition and how they have started fresh after their parent’s death.
“The kids are still in a trauma as one of them saw the parents being thrown in
the kiln. Even thou they are with the grandfather, they miss their parents as
no one can take their place.”
Talking
to The Nation he said that the financial conditions of children and their
education was being looked after as the Government had allotted 10 acres of
land to the children in Kot Radha Kishan and given them Rs 5 million as
compensation to resettle themselves. The DCO Kasur is their guardian and every
month they are getting some amount to cater to their basic needs. Along with
all this Cecil Iris Chaudary Foundation is looking after their education
needs.”
About
rumors of Shama having being raped before being tortured and thrown in the
kiln, he said, “Shama was not raped , nor has Aasia Bibi (in jail due to the
blasphemy charges) been raped as it is rumored in certain quarters.”
This was published in The Nation on 22 Nov 2015
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