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Friday, October 4, 2024

15-year old Urooj raped in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Johar: Mother demands justice

Mother’s takes to social media after her plea for justice in daughter’s rape case goes unheard, mother accuses police of asking for bribe while accused party blames her of blackmailing to extort money.

News Desk |

A video of a woman named Samreen Asif, hailing from Gulistan-e-Johar area of Karachi, has been circulating on social media, who is demanding justice for her 15-year-old daughter Urooj, who was raped at the hands of culprit, Raza Bugti. In the video, Samreen can be seen in a disheveled appearance, demanding justice against the culprits, who are far more influential and richer, hence, she fears that they will get away with the rape of her teenage daughter.

Samreen cries, “My 15-year-old daughter, a student of 8th class, has been raped by Raza Bugti. The police officials launched a false FIR, which allowed culprit Raza Bugti to return to his home in one day”. Samreen lamented that Raza Bugti, the accused, is an influential and wealthy man who has a great deal of money to feed police officials, while she has an ordinary job and lacks the money to funnel into the legal system in order to win justice for her daughter.

Child sexual abuse cases in Pakistan have increased from nine cases per day in 2017 to 12 cases per day in the first six months of 2018. The notorious case of child abuse in Kasur still haunts the minds of Pakistani people.

Samreen can be heard saying, “Please, provide us with justice. My daughter must undergo a medical test.” She shares her ordeal of going from one office to another, in hopes of getting the police to register an FIR and conduct a medical test. She says, “Additional IG Police ordered them to register an FIR, but they (police) registered a false FIR without conducting a medical test.”

Towards the end of the video, Samreen Asif clarifies that she approached the police station in Gulistan-e-Johar to register her FIR, and despite the orders of AIG Police, the police officials involved did not register an accurate FIR.

Rape or Consensual; Verdict Still Hangs?

A series of videos and posts shared by Hamza Ali Phulpoto, a youth leader from the Pakistan People’s Party’s Khairpur chapter, on his Facebook account indicate that there is another side to the story as well.

Read more: Ministry of Human Rights launches campaign against child abuse

He shared a video where Miss Samreen Asif can be seen canoodling with the accused, along with a picture of a legal document that lists her CNIC card, and states that she has taken back her case against accused Raza Bugti.

Hamza Phulpoto also shared a series of screenshots of Samreen’s messages to Raza Bugti, which reveals statements of a romantic nature. Hamza has stated, via his Facebook account that he will upload a video of Raza Bugti’s interview in a short while to present Bugti’s side of the story.

Global Village Space also discovered Samreen’s application submitted to DIG Police Gulistan-e-Johar Karachi, shared by Imran Ahmed Rao on Facebook, where she has demanded protection for herself, her daughter and her family against rapist Raza Bugti, who has been accused of harassing them after the allegations of rape were levelled.

FIR was lodged against the perpetrators and two of the three named have been apprehended i.e. Raza Bugti and Shaban while Jawwad is still at large.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Dr. Syed Kaleem Imam has taken notice of the media speculations over the alleged rape of Samreen’s fifteen year old daughter. IGP Dr. Syed Kaleem Imam has ordered DIG East Karachi to present him a detailed report of the case. IGP Kaleem Imam has instructed the relevant authorities to provide security to Samreen and her family and make sure the case is investigated on the basis of merit.

Increasing Number of Minor Rape in Pakistan

Child sexual abuse cases in Pakistan have increased from nine cases per day in 2017 to 12 cases per day in the first six months of 2018. The notorious case of child abuse in Kasur still haunts the minds of Pakistani people. Sahil, a NGO published a report titled, “Cruel Numbers 2018”, which states that “Over 10 children have been abused every day in Pakistan in 2018”.

The report was compiled by monitoring 85 regional and national newspapers, and from the cases that have been reported. Concerned authorities have diligently been working to uproot this evil from the bud yet cases emerge sparking outrage among the people. Capital punishment to perpetrators soothes the public for a time being but question is ‘is it a long-standing solution Pakistan needs?’

Read more: Child abuse: What Pakistan must do to curb it?

Recent Development

In a recent development, case took an ugly turn when an audio recording of a police officer surfaced on social media, asking for bribe from girl’s mother to turn the tide in her favor.

Jibran Nasir, a political activist in Pakistan shared a video in which he claims to have met the victim and gotten her medical conducted and further added that doctors have confirmed the allegation brought forward by the mother. FIR was lodged against the perpetrators and two of the three named have been apprehended i.e. Raza Bugti and Shaban while Jawwad is still at large. Sindh Inspector General (IGP) Dr. Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of it and sought a detailed report from the East Zone DIG.