MULTAN: A case has been registered against members of a panchayat (village council) in Multan who allegedly ordered ‘revenge rape’ of a 16-year-old girl, the media reported on Wednesday.
According to local police, the panchayat was assembled in Muzaffarabad’s Rajpur area after a man named Umar Wada allegedly raped a 12-On orders of the panchayat, two days later on July 18, the family of the rape victim arrived at the residence of accused Umar Wada, where the 16-year-old sister of the accused was raped by Ashfaq, the brother of the 12-year-old girl, in revenge, police said.
Police, upon hearing of the incident, arrested 10 members of the panchayat, including its leader.
A search is currently under way for the remaining men including the main accused, who fled the scene following the incident.
Speaking to the media, SHO Muzaffarabad Malik Rashid said the FIR for both cases had been registered at the women crisis centre. Adding this was an incident between relatives the SHO questioned the authority of the panchayat. “Who ordered them to order such a crime.â€
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident and sought a report from the Multan capital city police officer (CCPO).
The chief minister has directed that justice should be provided to the affected family.
CCPO Multan Ahsan Younis , talking to the media, said a search is under way to arrest the remaining accused.
He informed that the case has been registered against the accused on the complaint of the local SHO.
According to the CCPO, the second incident was not reported to the police. “When the first FIR was lodged and investigated we came to know that there was more to the case which was being hidden. When we investigated further and chased the accused for the last 2-3 days, the entire incident was unearthed.”
Speaking to the media, leading human rights lawyer Asma Jehangir condemned the incident. She stressed the need for better training of police and judges, as well as witness protection programmes so perpetrators of such crimes can be brought to book.