BAHAWALNAGAR: The mother of a 13-year-old gang-rape victim has sought protection from the IGP against the perpetrators who have been forcing them to withdraw the case.

Rubina Bibi, a resident of Chishtian’s Chak 4 Gajyani, told the reporters that her eldest daughter (13 years) would buy household items from the nearest grocery shop. She said a shop owner, along with a landlord, lured the girl inside the shop and raped her about one and-a-half years ago.

She said the suspects continued to rape her during this period and forced her to keep a mum by threatening her with dire consequences. They also gifted a mobile phone to the girl so that they could keep in touch with her and call her whenever they wanted.

She said that on the night of Nov 6, they forced the girl to leave the house by calling her on her mobile phone and took her to the shop where they drugged her and gang-raped her the whole night. She said the next day, the family found the girl unconscious at the shop and she narrated her ordeal after regaining consciousness.

Rubina said they were forced to leave the village after getting life threats by the rapists and their supporters when they tried to inform police about the matter. The family finally approached police and returned to their house from another place on Nov 19, she added.

She said that although the Saddar police registered a case on their complaint on Nov 20, they were under immense pressure to help resolve the issue.

DPO’s spokesperson Shehzad Ishfaq told Dawn that the complainant was not appearing before the IO for investigation after the case was registered. He further said the two nominated men in the case had been arrested and were being investigated.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2021