The mother of a teenage girl, who was forcibly paraded naked in the streets of Garahmat village of Dera Ismail Khan, has filed a petition requesting the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to supervise the ongoing investigation of the case, DawnNews reported on Monday.
On October 27, a group of men had intercepted the girl at gunpoint while she was fetching water from a pond along with her two cousins, disrobed her and forced her to run in the streets of Garahmat village. According to the petition filed by the victim's mother, the culprits filmed her as well.
The petition provided further details of the incident, stating that two years ago, the victim's brother, Sajid, had been accused of "teasing" and gifting a mobile phone to a girl of the rival tribe. The matter was taken to a local jirga and the victim's family was ordered to pay a fine of Rs300,000.
The petition claimed that the girl's family had paid the fine; yet, last month, she was attacked to exact revenge against her brother.
The victim had lodged a first information report with the Daraban police after the incident, following which the police arrested eight suspects and recovered video footage from their possession. Three of the suspects confessed to being involved in the incident during a court hearing earlier this month.
The accused said that they had settled the matter with the girl's family in a tribal jirga two years ago; however, they claimed, Sajid "had not ceased his activities."
They said they took up the matter with the family elders and decided that they would take revenge on Sajid by "dishonouring" his sister.
Earlier this month, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNA Dawar Khan Kundi had accused PTI leader and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Minister Ali Amin Gandapur of facilitating the accused involved in the incident.
Kundi wrote to PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Nov 8 requesting him to ensure Gandapur's removal from his ministerial position and the withdrawal of his support from the suspects. He also wanted Gandapur to seek forgiveness from the girl's family.
Responding to the allegations levelled against him by Kundi, Gandapur had said the attempts to link him with the incident were "shameful".
"Those accusing me of patronising the accused are unaware of the police system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Police in KP is completely free from political influence and it is impossible for any minister or political leader, including me, to intervene in their work," Gandapur maintained.
