Youth commits suicide after killing girl

HARIPUR: A frustrated young man allegedly committed suicide after a girl rejected her marriage proposal in a far-off village of Beer union council, some 45 km from here, on Monday.

The police quoted Muhammad Sabir, resident of Dalri village, as saying that his daughter Saveera Bibi, 17, was on the way to the agriculture fields when Adeel Ahmed 20, stopped her and entered into an altercation with her over unknown reasons.

The complainant, who quoted a couple of witnesses, said that all of sudden Ahmed took out a pistol from his pocket and opened fire on Bibi. The accused, according to the victim’s father, waited for a couple of minutes and then shot at his temple, killing himself on the spot.

The reason behind the murder of his daughter and self-killing by the young man, he said, was that he was constantly sending messages to his daughter but she did not reply. While on the other hand, the family sources of the deceased Adeel Ahmed told media persons that he had sent proposals to the girl several times.

Fire continues to destroy flora and fauna

The fire that had started two days ago in the Makhniyal Forest range had burnt hundreds of mature and minor trees besides killing birds of different species thus far, the locals said.

The police and forest officials said that the fire broke out in Nirota village of Muslimabad Union Council on Friday evening and engulfed the forest land in Pakshahi, Makhniyal, Raj Dahani, Pir Sohawa and surrounding areas along the boundary with Islamabad Capital City.

The police and area people said that the cause of the fire was the act of some miscreants who set the dry woods and grass on fire which has so far destroyed thousands of mature and minor trees including those planted under Billion Tsunami Tree Project of the sitting government.

The Forest Department had sought the help of locals who attempted to extinguish the fire using conventional methods of throwing water, earth and tree branches but the heavy fire still continued to spread towards Islamabad.

According to local people, it was five to six km away from the Islamabad’s territory and could enter there anytime.

Meanwhile, District Nazim Akhtar Nawaz Khan dashed to the fire-affected forest area along with officials of forest and district departments and monitored the rescue operation. However, the fire could not be put out until the filing of this report.

The district nazim ordered an inquiry into the wildfire and approached the provincial government for sending a helicopter to doze off the raging fire.

Joint efforts stressed to create awareness about child abuse

The Regional Police Officer, Hazara Range, Muhammad Ali Babakhel, has said that protection of children against sexual abuse and violence is the collective responsibility of the society.

He was speaking to participants of an awareness raising seminar arranged at a private school here on Monday. The RPO said that the recent surge in the cases of sexual abuse againstchildren was, in fact, failure of the society but not a single department or institution.

“Law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, civil society media and above all the parents have to join hand for protectingchildren against abuse of every kind,” he said,

adding that tool of attitudinal change would provethe best for ensuring the protection of children who were a precious asset of the nation.

The official said that the constitution, international conventions and domestic laws provided enough protection but for their effective implementation a sense of collective responsibility ought to be imbibed.

He asked the parents to provide a friendly atmosphere to children for sharing their problems as he believed such attitudes would provide them strength and they would be secured against the abuse of every kind.

The official also stressed the need for strict monitoring of children at home as well. Speaking on the occasion, School’s principal Prof Qazi Atiqur Rehman, Managing Director Nasir Taj and Salim Khan, president Private Education Network demanded improvement in the investigation system ensuring that not a single culprit went unpunished for the crime against children. District Police Officer Zahidullah Jan addressed the participants on the occasion.