Flood-victim orphan girl gang-raped in Karachi

KARACHI: In a heart-wrenching incident of child sexual abuse, a nine-year-old girl, taking shelter in Karachi after floods in Shikarpur, was allegedly gang-raped by unidentified persons in a car in an upscale locality of Karachi.

The incident took place at Block 4, Clifton, in the jurisdiction of the Boat Basin Police, where at least two persons forcibly took the girl into their car, raped her and then left her near the shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi.

The girl, accompanied by her five siblings and mother, was staying at a footpath in Shah Rasool Colony from where her mother took her to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre after noticing her miserable plight on Monday evening. However, instead of giving first aid to the girl, her mother was asked to take her to the NICH from where she was again sent to the JPMC for medical treatment.

The victim’s mother, in the FIR, stated that she was a widow and mother of six. “My daughter was begging near Dolman Mall in Clifton when she was abducted by some persons in a car at around 11am. She returned to me at around 2pm. Her condition was critical,” she said.

According to the Police Surgeon’s Office, the condition of the girl was bad. She was subjected to violence. The office confirmed gang-rape after medical examination. Following the incident, the Boat Basin Police have registered FIR 672/22 under Sections 364A/376/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and initiated investigations. The Karachi Police chief has formed an investigation team headed by the SSP South to arrest the culprits. The police, during initial investigations, detained at least five suspects while the search for the key suspects is under way. The police were obtaining CCTV footages and looking for witnesses.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has directed the police to arrest the culprits and take the victim family into protective care. “This is totally unacceptable and cannot be forgiven. I want the culprits behind the bars immediately,” he told additional IG Karachi Javed Odho over telephone on Monday. Murad directed Women Development Minister Shehla Raza to take the family into protective care.