Caretaker govt not to buckle under pressure in Ranipur minor girl death case, say ministers

The caretaker Sindh government is committed to lawfully concluding the case of the tragic death of a minor female servant in Ranipur town of the province.

The resolve to this effect was expressed by Caretaker Home Minister Brig (retired) Harris Nawaz, Health Minister Dr Saad Khalid Niaz and Law Minister Barrister Muhammad Omer Soomro during a press conference at the Sindh Secretariat on Saturday.

The ministers reiterated the resolve to bring to justice the culprits behind the minor’s death without coming under any political or feudal influence.

The home minister said all the relevant authorities of the interim provincial administration were fully committed to resolving the case of the death of minor housemaid Fatima Fariro in Ranipur.

He added that one of the main influential accused persons in the case was immediately arrested after the girl’s death.

He assured the media that all the requirements of the law would be duly fulfilled in this case. He said DNA samples related to the case had been sent for forensic analysis at the laboratories at the University of Karachi and in Lahore.

He explained that relevant footage from the CCTV cameras had also been obtained for using it as a piece of evidence. He said the premier intelligence agencies of the country were fully on board for their help in the investigations of the case.

The home minister informed the media that the caretaker provincial government would do its best to prevent heinous cases of child labour that brazenly violated the rights of children.

He said it was even greater tragedy that children were engaged in labourious tasks in the province without them or their families getting payment.

Brig (retd) Nawaz said the caretaker administration had initiated stern action to prevent the instances of street crime in Karachi. He expressed the hope that the menace of street crime in the city would soon be eradicated.

The home minister said that an operation had also been continuing against the dacoits operating in the riverine belt of Sindh to resolve the issue of kidnapping for ransom.

He added that a strategy had been finalised to arrest those bandits. The health minister told the media that he and the law minister had gone to Ranipur to meet the bereaved family.

He said that every law-abiding citizen of Pakistan had become ashamed of the sorrowful incident. The entire interim Sindh cabinet was on the same page to serve justice in a speedy manner in the case, he added.

To a question, Dr Niaz said the exploitation of children by influential religious persons and feudal lords was an age-old issue and it was very hard to resolve this social problem within the limited tenure of the caretaker administration.

The law minister assured the media that the interim government had been monitoring the case of Fatima’s death on a daily basis to ensure speedy justice for the victims.