Uzma Ayub, a gang-rape victim, gave birth to a baby girl at a local hospital in Peshawar at 11.45pm on Thursday night, sources told Pakistan Today. The girl’s mother Bilqees Begum told reporters that Uzma had gone into labour in the evening and was rushed to the hospital, where she gave birth to the child after approximately six hours. Both mother and child are reportedly in stable condition. Bilqees said the chairwoman of a local non-government women rights organisation had taken the baby away from the hospital. Uzma’s case was a high profile one because of the involvement of local police officials in her kidnapping and repeated gang-rape for a whole year.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti had ordered the formation of an enquiry committee soon after news of the atrocity first broke. In the enquiry report, DNA testing of the accused police officials and others involved in the case was recommended after the birth of the child, and later the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had also taken suo motu notice in the murder case of the victim’s brother, who was shot dead on December 9, 2011 on the premises of court in Karak in the presence of police officials.