Police’s inaction on rape, murder of minor girl sparks protests in capital

–Family, civil society hold protest at Taramri Chowk, refuse to bury Farishta Mohmand’s body until culprits are taken to task

–Hospital sources confirm 10-year-old Farishta was raped before murder

–DIG Operations suspends SHO for delaying registration of FIR in case; two suspects arrested

ISLAMABAD: Police have arrested two suspects on Tuesday linked to the abduction, rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl, Farishta, in Islamabad’s Shehzad Town area.

The parents and relatives of the minor girl refused to bury the body as they protested at Taramri Chowk for the arrest of the culprits.

The protesters said they will bury the victim after negotiations are successful, which were underway at the time of the filing of this report.

The girl went missing on May 15, said her father Gul Nabi, adding that they approached the police fearing she had been abducted after they were unable to find her, but the police refused to register an FIR.

MNA Mohsin Dawar, who has been highlighting the case, also said that the victim’s parents had “continuously requested concerned police station for FIR but they refused”.

He confirmed that an FIR had been registered under sections pertaining to kidnapping (365-B, PPC) on Sunday night (May 19), after the girl’s body was recovered.

The family claims that the police had asked them to perform ‘petty tasks’ of the police station instead of helping them as they demanded action against the police officials.

Nabi also alleged that the Shehzad Town police, instead of taking action or filing an FIR, had victim-blamed the 10-year-old girl and posed insensitive questions to the family, such as asking whether she had eloped with someone, according to a report in a local media outlet.

Nabi said that there were torture marks and wounds on his daughter’s body, lamenting she had been raped before she was killed. The suspects, Nabi alleged, had also thrown acid on his daughter.

The relatives also alleged that when the body of the girl was taken to Polyclinic Hospital, the administration refused to perform postmortem. They staged a protest outside the hospital last night where they were joined by MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir.

Polyclinic initially refused to perform the autopsy; however, it was conducted on Tuesday. Sources at the hospital confirmed the minor was raped before murder.

The incidents of child abuses and robberies are on the rise in the federal capital, which raised serious questions over the effectiveness of safe city project.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmed Shah took notice of the incident and ordered the authorities to take strict action against the culprits. He also sought a detailed report from Islamabad inspector general of police (IGP).

Separately, Senate Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Rehman Malik took notice of the tragic incident and sought report from IG Islamabad within one week.

The chairman directed that IG Islamabad should investigate the matter under his supervision on an urgent basis and submit a detail report to the committee within one week.

Meanwhile, DIG Operation suspended the SHO at Chak Shehzad Police Station on the demand of the bereaved family for delaying the filing of the FIR and directed departmental inquiry against him. The IG directed DIG to head both the teams constituted to search the culprits involved in the crime.

#JusticeForFarishta was a trending topic on Twitter on Tuesday as activists and citizens brought attention to the incident on social media.