On a writ petition filed by a girl against her father, accusing him of raping her, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday ordered the Golra SHO to register a rape case against the accused and conduct an inquiry.
A single bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman, resumed the hearing of the case filed by the girl, a resident of Golra, against her father.
The 18-year-old girl, through her lawyer, contended that her father Liaquat Ali had raped her. She alleged that when she brought the matter to the notice of her mother and relatives, her father tried to kill her and even fired at her, injuring her face badly. Upon this, she lodged an application with the Golra police, but they didn’t register a rape case. Instead, they registered an FIR against the accused for keeping illegal arms.
The girl who is currently living in a crisis centre told the court that some 10 days ago father was freed on bail and since then he had been pressuring her into keeping mum over the issue and settling the matter, she claimed.
Her lawyer contended that the accused not only raped the girl but also attempted to murder her. He sought registration of a case against him under sections 376/324 for raping and attempting to murder her. He further contended that the victim’s mother and brother who supported her for raising voice against the crime were receiving life threats from the accused.
Arif Khan, counsel for the accused, contended that the allegations levelled against his client, Liaqat Ali, by his daughter were baseless.
The lawyer further submitted that Liaquat forced her daughter to accept his nephew in exchange marriage (Vatta Satta), but, instead of accepting the proposal, she levelled the rape allegation against her father. He contended that since the matter was sensitive, no judgment should be passed pending a DNA test report.
The counsel for the victim, Saeed Khursheed, prayed the court to order registration of an FIR against the accused, besides directing the police to produce a fresh DNA test report.
