Lust-crazed policemen on the loose?

On the pretext of conducting a search due to the current law and order situation, three police officers of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station allegedly entered a widow’s house early Sunday morning and not only gang raped three women but also took away valuables from the house.
The incident took place in Block 13D-II of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, where three police officers were accused of gang raping the house owner’s cousin and her two guests. When the widow called the police helpline 15, the rescue team arrived three hours later. Even as the rescue police tried to enter the house, their associates came out and started abusing them. The police team apologised to the high-cadre officers and even helped them to go away from the scene with cash, jewellery and other valuables from the house.
The house owner along with her cousin reached the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) office to lodge a complaint. The officials present there advised the women to have a medico-legal examination for proving the case. The widow then took her cousin to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where a senior medico-legal officer (MLO) confirmed the incident.
JPMC MLO Dr Robina said the tests confirm that the woman was sexually assaulted by more than one person. “Samples of semen confirm that she was raped at least twice last night. The samples have sent to a laboratory for DNA test to trace out the culprits.”
Talking to Pakistan Today at the JPMC MLO office on Tuesday, the widowed owner of the house said that three plain-clothed policemen named Safdar, Asif and Tariq forcibly entered her house on the excuse of a search operation. “The three policemen entered my house at 2:00am and left at 5:30am. During this period, they sexually assaulted my young cousin and two other female guests.
“First they searched my house and when they found nothing, they asked about the three other women present in the house.
“On gunpoint, the policemen asked the women to accompany them inside the rooms but when the latter refused, they started beating them up and forcibly took them inside and locked the doors.
“My brother tried to open the doors but failed. We came out of the house and locked the main entrance to trap the culprits red-handed but when the police rescue officials arrived at the scene some three hours later, instead of arresting the accused, they saluted their officials and also helped them in taking away cash and other valuables from the house.
“Now the three policemen are threatening to kill us if we register an FIR against them.
“I gathered enough courage to accompany my raped cousin to knock the doors of government offices for justice, but the two other victims have refused and quietly returned home. We seek justice from the government and protection from the influential criminals involved this heinous crime,” the woman concluded.
The rape survivor told Pakistan Today that she had shifted to Karachi from Lahore three years ago after her divorce and has been living with her cousin since.
“The three policemen barged into our house during a function and raped me. They gang raped two other young girls who had arrived at our house as guests,” the girl said, bursting into tears.
When approached for comments, Gulshan-e-Iqbal SHO Kanson Dean expressed his ignorance on the issue but confirmed that the three named policemen, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Safdar, Head Constable (HC) Asif and Constable Tariq, are deployed at his police station. However, he accused the women of fabricating the story. “The nominated policemen are innocent and are being accused by the women only because they were caught doing illegal activities,” he said. Gulshan-e-Iqbal Superintendent of Police (SP) Waqar Mallan sought time to investigate the incident.
After two hours, the SP confirmed the gang rape incident. “I have called the Gulshan-e-Iqbal SHO and ordered him to locate the rape survivors and accompany them to my office Wednesday (today),” he said.
“I have further directed the SHO to keep an eye on the three accused policemen and do not allow them to move without information until the final DNA report. If the policemen are found guilty, they will be sent behind bars,” he asserted.