Gulistan-e-Jauhar rape suspect’s remand extended for two days

A judicial magistrate on Friday extended the remand of a suspect for two days who along with his absconding accomplices allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

The District East judicial magistrate handed over the custody of Raza Bugti to police on physical remand till May 19 as the investigation officer sought more time to complete the interrogation.

An FIR (No 163/19) was lodged under sections 352, 452 and 506-B of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 on behalf of a woman, Samreen, who is the mother of the victim, against three suspects, namely Bugti, Shaban and Jawwad, at the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station on March 19. The woman had accused the men of raping her daughter.

The complainant in her initial statement to the police said that her daughter was subjected to gang rape by the three persons, and Bugti, who was the president of the union of the apartments where they lived, was a key suspect in the case.

The mother alleged that the suspects subjected her daughter to rape and warned her that they would throw acid on her if she screamed or told anyone about the incident. But the case took an ugly turn when an audio call went viral on social media, in which a man calling himself as ASI Rehman of the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station is heard demanding a bribe from the victim’s mother in exchange for the preparation of a medical report and investigations in her favour.

However, at the end of the phone call, the woman refused to give him money and told the caller that his call had been recorded. The woman said she would not pay a single penny to him as her complaint was genuine.

As the audio went viral on social media, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of it and sought a detailed report from the East Zone DIG. Meanwhile, Additional IG Karachi Dr Amir Shaikh also took notice of the matter and formed an inquiry committee to investigate the case.

District East SSP Ghulam Azfar Mahesar would head the committee, which would record the statements of the victim girl and her mother. He said the committee would carry out the probe with the help of modern techniques.

Bugti, who surrendered before the police on May 13, said that he was falsely implicated in case by Samreen over a financial dispute. He negated the claim of rape. Meanwhile, a woman among the accused, Beena, whose name surfaced during the investigation, has obtained bail before arrest.