On 26 January, 2009 a 21-year-old girl was covered in petrol by her husband and her in-laws and burned to death. Mrs. Bisma Bibi, resident of Chak number 86, NB Sargodha, Punjab, had been married to one, Mr. Muhammad Safdar for about a year and a half and had a six-month-old baby, according to local NGO Tanngh Wasaib Organisation. After the birth of a baby the couple had allegedly been arguing about money and about Safdar’s wish to take a second wife; it is reported that he had also threatened to kill her a number of times in the past. On the day in question, the husband’s mother Ms. Hayatan Bibi allegedly poured petrol on the girl while Safdar held her down. She was then set alight and prevented from escaping by Safdar’s sister, Ms. Asmat Bibi and cousin, Mr. Muhammad Aslam.
After her death the family announced that the girl had been electrocuted by an iron while she was pressing her clothes. However according to the father, when he and his wife arrived on the scene twenty minutes after the incident, members of the police force were already there trying to bury the girl. They were prevented from seeing their daughter¡¦s body allegedly by a Mr Abdul Rehman, Sub-Inspector of Saddar police station, and a few other policemen.
The next day Bisma’s father claims that he contacted the police to try and set an inquiry in motion. He says he was in a distraught condition and was shown only the burned face of his daughter; the rest of the body was covered by a shroud, and the police told him that she would be buried that day. When he protested at the speed of the burial, they told him that this was their custom. He was made to put his thumbprint to blank pieces of paper, which he hasn’t seen since.
Meanwhile, the family says, relatives of the in-laws had told them about the murder, as had Safdar himself, who came to their house with his Quran and six month¡¦s baby of the victim to confess to Bisma’s murder, and begged her mother for her forgiveness.
Permission to exhume the body was granted from the court on February 6 and her relatives say that the body was completely charred. Despite this, the police officers of the district including, Dr. Muhammad Usman, district police office (DPO), Mr. Khalid Godal, station house officer (SHO) and Mr. Abdul Rehman, investigation officer of the case, showed reluctance to lodge the FIR against her husband and her in laws, on the report of the father of the victim because of connections of husband with the police the report, number 75/2009, was instead lodged on the directives of the court and charged the husband and his in-laws with murder.
The Saddar police station in Sargodha district took Muhammad Safdar and his cousin Muhammad Aslam into custody, but did not charge them ¡V reports to the AHRC suggest that his kindness with a number of the policeman ensured their protection in custody.
Since the exhumation, the arrival of the Medical Legal Officer’s forensic report in court has been delayed and no one has been arrested; police claim that they are waiting for the report to come from Lahore, which is around 200 km from where the murder took place. The parents of the dead girl claim to be facing threats from the police and Safdar’s family, and pressure to withdraw the case.
Incidents of violence against women, particularly domestic incidents, remain very common in Pakistan, especially in the province of Punjab, where a newly elected government has promised to tackle the problem. There is no national law against domestic violence – a bill is being slowly considered ¡V and there is little will shown by police to arrest perpetrators, who are often able to offer bribes. The women, in contrast, have little economic or social empowerment to do the same. In this way police corruption is simply victimizing women further. There is currently no institution to monitor the working of the police in this sector, and little training that teaches them how to deal with a victim of such abuse. Women who do complain are often met with incredulity and unhelpfulness; they are also often immediately divorced by their husbands and left equally as vulnerable, often without a means of work.
The government of Punjab province must clearly and regretfully acknowledge the high rate of domestic violence against women in the region, and the role of the police in perpetrating it. It should take immediate action against the district police officers of the Sargodha, for not providing help to the victim¡¦s family, and essentially aiding those who killed her. The national government also has a responsibility to seriously consider and speed up the passing of the domestic violence bill, and to provide police the necessary training and support to implement it.
