JI chief calls for arrests of accused in Asma Rani, Sharifan Bibi cases

LAKKI MARWAT: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq on Tuesday said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police would face criticism unless the prime suspects involved in killing of Asma Rani in Kohat and harassment of Sharifan Bibi in Dera Ismail Khan were arrested. He was talking to reporters in Naurang town after visiting the residence of slain medical student. He offered condolence and sympathies to her father Ghulam Dastagir and other relatives. JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, district deputy head Azizullah Khan and other leaders also accompanied him.

Asma Rani, a third-year medical student in Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, was killed in Kohat on January 28 on refusing a marriage proposal. She belonged to Naurang town of Lakki Marwat district and her brutal killing had sparked protests in the district. He said despite poverty the parents sent Asma Rani to Ayub Medical College Abbotabad and another daughter abroad on scholarship for pursuing PhD studies.

The JI chief termed escape of female student's killer from country a failure on part of government and called for taking measures to bring back him from Saudi Arabia through Interpol. The JI chief expressed concern over surge in rape and murder incidents of women and children in the country and asked the government to take special steps to avoid such incidents. Extending all out support to the grand Marwat jirga constituted after the killing

of Asma Rani, Sirajul Haq urged the government to take practical and visible steps for the arrest of prime accused. "The arrest of killer will give a sense of security and protection to the students studing in medical colleges and other institutions," he said.