PHC directs police to arrest main accused in Sharifan Bibi case in three weeks

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday set three weeks deadline for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police to nab the principal accused in the Sharifan Bibi case, who was allegedly paraded naked in the streets of her village in Dera Ismail Khan for her brother's alleged crime.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan directed Sher Akbar, Deputy Inspector General Police Headquarters and AIG Legal, Falak Naz, to expedite the process and efforts to ensure the arrest of the principal accused in the case.

The bench sought progress report on February 22, the next date of hearing into the case. During the hearing, the chief justice questioned the police officers as to why it had not arrested the principal accused in the case. "What are the difficulties for the police in arresting the accused?" Justice Yahya Afridi asked the police officers.

The chief justice asked the police officers to tell the court if any assistance in nabbing the accused was needed and the court would help the police. As per the Dera Ismail Khan Police investigation and progress report submitted in the court through Human Rights Cell of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), the police claimed efforts were being made to arrest the main accused, Sajawal.

On the previous hearing, Qazi Muhammad Anwar, who appeared on behalf of Sharifan Bibi, informed the bench that the principal accused was still at large. He maintained that Basharat, the station house officer (SHO), had taken the mobile phone carrying the video of the incident and was trying to destroy the evidence in the case.

After the incident the PTI's Member National Assembly Dawar Kundi sent a letter to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief. He alleged that KP Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was sheltering the culprits. The PTI chief Imran Khan took notice of the serious allegations against own minister and served a notice to his MNA.

The PHC had disposed of the writ petition filed by the victim girl with the direction to the IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to ensure submission of progress and investigation report in the case after every 15 days to the Human Rights Cell.

The police stated in the report that eight out of the nine accused had been arrested in the case. It claimed in the report that they had seized 10 mobile phones from a suspect, Rahmatullah, who the girl claimed filmed her with his mobile phone while being paraded naked.

However, the police stated that all the 10 mobile phones were checked in the FSL Peshawar but no such video clips were found. The crime was committed by the accused party to allegedly avenge the incident of alleged illicit relations between the petitioner's brother and a female relative of the accused.

In the petition, the 16-year old Sharifan Bibi requested the court to direct the provincial government and the police chief to provide security to her and her family, recover her video from the possession of one of the accused Rahmatullah and inclusion of his name in the first information report as he had filmed her when she was paraded naked.

In the case proper sections of law, including Anti-Terrorism Act, are yet to be added by the police against the accused in the FIR during investigation. As per the legal experts, it was a case of terrorism to parade the girl naked in the streets in presence of people. They wondered why the police had not charged the accused under terrorism law.