PAKISTAN: Attempted rape of a girl by the Karachi university staff and continuous impunity of the perpetrators due to protection of Pakistan Rangers 

PAKISTAN: Sexual assault at educational institution, no rule of law, law enforcement agencies are protecting the culprits.
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source that a female law student from the S.M. Law College, Miss R (the name was withheld to safeguard victim’s identity), was nearly raped by three staff of the Islamic Learning Department of the Karachi University where she went to take an exam on 28 July 2006. Even though the three perpetrators were caught by the students and were brought before the Vice Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor suspended them a few days later only after the incident was widely publicized in the newspapers. He also allegedly told the victim not to lodge a complaint regarding the incident to the police station. Meanwhile, the perpetrators sought help from the officials of the Pakistan Rangers (paramilitary group) and as a result, the victim’s family is under threat from the perpetrators and the Pakistan Rangers. To date, no serious disciplinary and legal action has been taken against the perpetrators.  It is alleged that this is not the first case of sexual harassment (Some of them are relating to rape and physical assaults) against female students by the staff of the same department of the university and officials of Pakistan Rangers.

Miss R (the name was withheld) went to Karachi University in Karachi on July 28 to take an examination in constitutional law. She is a student of the S.M. Law College in Karachi and Karachi University was her examination center. The examination was supposed to start at 2:30pm but she reached the university at 1:30pm to avoid disturbances in the city streets owing to protest rallies against Israel’s attack in Lebanon. As July 28 was Friday, Juma prayers (the week’s biggest religious congregations) and most of the students and teachers were not present at the university at this time as they all went to mosques to attend the prayers. Miss R was sitting on a bench outside the classrooms. One computer operator named Mr. Mansoor Riaz of the Islamic Learning Department then approached her and asked why she was sitting there. After learning that she was to appear in examinations, he asked her to show all the relevant documents, even though only invigilators had authority to check them. When Miss R showed the documents, he said that they were false and she had to follow him to his office.

Mr. Riaz then took Miss R to his office and again started checking the papers while two more staff of the same Islamic Learning Department came and locked the door. Miss R felt that something was going wrong and ran towards the door. However, the three staff attacked her and started stripping off her clothes.  Miss R cried out and shouted asking for help. Some students of the S.M. Law College who also arrived early to the university for an examination heard her screams, rushed to Mr. Riaz’s office and forcibly opened the door. When students saw that Miss R was overpowered by the three staff, they beat them and immediately produced them before the Vice Chancellor of the university.

After hearing of the incident from the victim and students, the Vice Chancellor postponed the examination scheduled for that day and promised to hold an inquiry into the incident. However, he allegedly told the victim not to lodge a complaint to the police station saying that she would earn a bad name and be further harassed. He also let Mr. Riaz and his two colleagues go home.

After being released by the Vice Chancellor, the three perpetrators went straight to officials of Pakistan Rangers [paramilitary armed group] stationed within the university and complained that they were beaten by the outsiders of the University. The Pakistan Rangers have been deputed by the government authorities to guard some education centers and universities in Karach, including the Karachi University, in order to control the escalations of violence between different student groups. According to the local people, the residence of the members of the Pakistan Rangers is located near the hostel of female students and there were several alleged cases of sexual harassment against female students by the staff of the same Islamic Learning Department of the university and officials of Pakistan Rangers. The cases reportedly include rape and physical assaults but the victims most likely did not reveal their incidents due to fear and humiliation.

Officials of the Pakistan Rangers then advised the three staff to complain to the employee’s union of the university regarding their assault by the students and resort to strike. They followed this advice and consequently the union went on strike for two days insisting that the three staff were innocent and that the students must be punished for assaulting them.  Meanwhile, the university authority did not take any action against the perpetrators or inquire into the incident despite the Vice Chancellor’s earlier promise to the victim and the students.

The incident was widely and continuously publicized in local newspapers and at that point, the Vice Chancellor merely suspended the three staff responsible for the incident on July 31. However, the university authorities did not attempt to take measures for dismissal of the three staff or lodge complaints for legal action against them.

As a result of all the actions taken by the university authority and the perpetrators backed up by the Pakistan Rangers, a complaint has yet been lodged to the police station regarding this case. Meanwhile, the victim’s parents are reportedly under serious threat from the perpetrators and officials of Rangers who reportedly told them that the victim will face more consequences if they did not retract their complaint to the Karachi University authority.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

There have reportedly been several complaints about similar incidents since the Pakistan Rangers have been stationed within Karachi University on the pretext of preventing violence and controlling the law and order within the university. However, the victims generally do not report such incidents due to the objection of their parents who are scared that their children would earn bad names.

Pakistan Rangers have been stationed within the Karachi University for more than 10 years and during this period, several students including female students were allegedly beaten, raped and molested by its officials. But none of them could file a case against those officials as they were required to get permission from the Vice Chancellor/pro vice chancellor before lodging the complaint.

Over the decade, the Pakistan Rangers have also developed a good nexus with the university employees who take the advantage of their power for their own benefit. The three staff of the Islamic Learning Department are most likely under this category. The expected consequence is that the university authority won’t take any serious action against the perpetrators as they have the patronage of Pakistan Rangers. The Vice Chancellor is allegedly under huge pressure from the Pakistan Rangers so that he can not take any actions against the perpetrators.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to ensure that a proper and thorough investigation be immediately conducted into this case by the Karachi University authority as well as the police. The police should register the case against the perpetrators relating to this attempted rape and launch an investigation into the case. Please also urge them to order an investigation into the allegation of threats and intimidation by the Pakistan Rangers to the victim’s family and the university authority to protect the perpetrators. If it is found to be true, those responsible officials should also be punished by law. Effective measures should be taken to ensure the security of the victim and her family who are allegedly under threat by the perpetrators and the Ranger officials.

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