By By our correspondent
Faiz Muhammad, the father of rape victim Asima, had filed a petition in the SHC, in which he stated that the Khairpur police were trying to protect the accused nominated in the FIR. Meanwhile, the Sindh chief minister has taken notice of the case and ordered the Sukkur RPO to hold an inquiry into the incident. Also, senior officials in the Sindh government have ordered Khairpur DPO Pir Muhammad Shah to arrest the accused. The SP (Investigation), Khairpur, Gul Muhammad Shar, has been appointed as the inquiry officer. The SP said the inquiry was under way. He added that he was not in a position to say something at the moment without receiving a formal report of medical examination of the rape victim.
However, Asima termed the SP (Investigation) a controversial figure and called for removing him as the inquiry officer, saying he was trying to protect the accused. Earlier, Asima, a matriculation student at the Bhango Behan High School, had accused three schoolteachers — Shaukat Jatt, Imtiaz Rajpar and Ghulam Mustafa Rajpar — of gang-raping her a week ago. She said one of her class fellows requested her at school gate to go with her to collect a book that she had left in a house. She said when she went to the house, her class fellow left her there and locked the door from outside. She later saw the schoolteachers there.
According to her, they tied her hands together with a rope and gang-raped her. They also threatened her of dire consequences if she told her parents about the incident. She demanded that the rapists be severely punished. She said she would commit self-immolation if not provided justice.
The police have registered an FIR against the schoolteachers and the homeowner, Iftikhar Ahmed, and held schoolteacher Shaukat Jatt. The police have also been conducting raids to arrest the remaining accused.
The police also brought the rape victim to a female medical officer, Dr Tajia, for medical examination. After the preliminary examination, the doctor confirmed that rape was committed, but she referred the case to Rohri for further examination. Meanwhile, police sources said the accused, Shaukat Jatt, was an assistant sub-inspector in the Police Department, Khairpur, before joining the Education Department.