KHANEWAL: Residents of Kabirwala tehsil of Khanewal on Wednesday protested against the local police’s alleged refusal to investigate an influential, accused of raping a minor girl, reported a private media outlet.
The victim’s family had accused a local landlord and one of his servants of kidnapping and raping the child — a student of the third grade — overnight, and then dumping her unconscious body on a nearby farm.
The child had been brought to a local hospital in an unconscious state, where she underwent treatment for three days before was allowed to leave.
After being discharged, the victim had been taken to the Haveli Koranga police station for the lodging of a case against the accused.
According to reports, the police had initially noted down the family’s complaint in which both suspects had been named, but the police only named the servant as a suspect in the FIR.
The FIR, which was registered with the victim’s mother as the complainant, states the girl was kidnapped by the servant while her family slept.
Soon after the victim’s mother woke up, she found the girl missing and then launched a search for her with other family members. She was quoted to have said that she witnessed the servant raping the girl at the landlord’s house.
Angered at the police’s alleged refusal to register a case against the landlord, the girl’s family and other residents of the area launched protests and demanded the immediate arrest of both the suspects.
The protesters have also appealed to the Punjab chief minister for justice.