DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two facilitators of the main accused in a case involving alleged stripping and parading of a teenage girl in a village in this district late last month have been arrested.

Sources said on Sunday that police arrested on Saturday the two for giving the main accused, Sajawal, shelter as well as information. Police had earlier arrested eight accused in the case.

The sources said the police would produce the eight accused in court on Monday after expiry of their two-day remand.

Initially, the victim’s family had alleged that the accused had stripped the girl and paraded her naked in the Garahmat village in Daraban tehsil on Oct 27. Later, they claimed that she was taken to residence of one Sanaullah where her clothes were torn off and she was beaten, and was kept in illegal confinement.

The victim had claimed that she had received bruises on her arm and knee. She claimed that she was dragged by the suspects at gunpoint inside the house. According to unconfirmed reports, the victim’s family was under pressure to retract their earlier statement.

Interestingly, the Chaudwan police station registered two FIRs on Oct 27. First, the police registered an FIR on complaint of one of the female members of the family of the accused, while another FIR was later registered on the complaint of the victim (name withheld).

The arrested accused included three brothers Shahjehan, Gulestan and Ramzan, two other brothers Nasir and Aslam, and Ikram, Sanaullah and Saidu. A prime accused in the case could not be arrested.

Regional Police Officer Syed Fida Hassan Shah had claimed in a statement that he had constituted special teams for arresting the suspects and he had himself been supervising the investigation. A brother of the victim, Sajid Khan, has also sent an application to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial police officer, requesting him to conduct an inquiry and take action against the SHO concerned, who, he alleged, was supporting the accused.

He stated in the application that on the day of the incident at around 7am his sister along with three of her female cousins went to a nearby pond to fetch potable water.

He alleged that when they reached near the residence of Sajawal, the suspects caught hold of his sister and after stripping her they forced her to run in the area. He added that she took refuge in the residence of one Kaleemullah, but the suspects pulled her out of the house and left her naked in the street. Sajid alleged that when he reached the police station he saw Sajawal already present there. He added that the SHO was using delaying tactics to register the FIR, saying he had to visit the spot.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2017