RATODERO: A quack, Ghulam Qadir Soomro, allegedly blackmailed 20-year-old Saira Bhutto and sexually abused her for five months in Banguldero village.
The affected girl also tried to commit suicide due to mental torture and harassment but was prevented by her relatives to take her life.
Taj Muhammad Bhutto, the uncle of the affected girl, told reporters at Lashari police station on Sunday that Saira was learning sewing and embroidery at a vocational training centre in Banguldero, which was being run by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Shah Lateef Welfare Association. The centre was being supervised by Najma Soomro and headed by quack Ghulam Qadir Soomro, he added.
The girl’s uncle said that Najma Soomro came to their house one day and requested to grant Saira permission to travel to Karachi for treatment of her eyes, which was granted in good faith. During their journey back home, Ghulam Qadir allegedly injected her with a drug.
When she fainted, he sexually assaulted her, captured her photos and made video clips, he added. He also alleged that when the girl reached home, Soomro sent the compromising photos to her on Whatsapp and forced her to meet him again, but Saira stopped going to the vocational centre.
Taj Muhammad further said that Soomro, after failing in his ambitions, started sending messages to his niece and threatened her to meet him or face the shame of seeing her photos on the internet. He alleged that Soomro sexually abused her for five months by blackmailing the girl.
He also said that they called the elders of their community to resolve the matter but the accused ran away from the village. Now we have come to the police station to register a case against both the accused, but the police are protecting him because he is a close friend of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) head in Larkana district, he added. He said the accused Ghulam Qadir was also former PPP general secretary of Banguldero.
It is important to mention here that station house officer of Lashari police station was constantly avoiding to register FIR due to political pressure but when the media broke the news and the provincial home minister took notice of the tragic incident, he was forced to lodge FIR 13/2018 under section 376, 337 J and 354 A against Ghulam Qadir Soomro and Najma Soomro.
It is further alleged that the police, instead of arresting the accused, was providing protection to them.