Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a lady health worker being gang raped, allegedly by police personnel who have tried to pass themselves off as Frontier Corp personnel. The woman, a mother of five, was gang raped in front of her children and husband when she refused to stop administering polio drops to young children. As the chief culprit is well placed and influential, the police refused to register the victim’s first information report (FIR), and later, upon pressure from different quarters, registered a faulty FIR, which seeks to link her husband with drug possession. The woman has been running from pillar to post seeking justice, but has so far been unsuccessful.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Ms. IA [real name withheld], 34, wife of Javed, and a mother of five, is a resident of Ballo Village in Nowshera District Khyber Punkhtoonkha province (KPK). IA, along with her family, lives in a two-story house. The family rented out the ground floor to Ajab Khan, son of Akal Khan, who is from the Khyber Agency. Ajab and his family moved into the ground floor of IA’s house. He has introduced himself the personal from Frontier Corp (FC).
However, when Ajab learned that IA is a lady health worker, he told her that her earnings are haram (illegitimate) because she administers polio drops. Ajab, it later transpired, is an absconder from Bannu Jail KP province), but has a history of roaming around the village in police uniform.
There is a common misconception amongst the people from tribal areas – for instance in Khyber Agency – that polio drops are a conspiracy of the West to make their children impotent, Religious leaders from tribal belts have also issued an edict forbidding parents from letting their children get polio drops. As a result, polio is still endemic in Pakistan, having been eradicated elsewhere in the world.
In her commitment to eradicate polio from Pakistan, despite the threat, IA refused to back down from her work, resolving to play her part to improve children’s lives. According to IA, when Ajab threatened her with dire consequences if she didn’t stop administering polio drops, IA asked him to vacate the house.
The very next day, on August 28, Ajab left with his family. However, he had not taken away his belongings. Later that evening IA heard some noises coming from the ground floor; she thought maybe Ajab had returned to take away his belongings.
At around 11:30 p.m. there was a loud knock on the door; IA got scared and asked her husband to call the police, fearing that Ajab was up to no good. The minute she mentioned police, a group of five men barged into the house, breaking open the door. Two of the men were dressed in police uniform, and they had their faces covered.
IA was brutally beaten and ganged in front of her children and husband. The rapists also took away Pak Rupees 40,000, cell phones, and other valuables from the house. Before leaving, they threatened the family not to report the crime; they also told IA to leave her job as a health worker or she would be gang raped again.
IA’s children were also manhandled. Her 13-year-old daughter was strangled by one of the men when she tried to protect her mother. Bruised, the girl survived the attempt on her life.
The incident was immediately reported at the Akbar Pura Police Station. However, when IA tried to approach the Station House Officer (SHO) to report the rape (as she didn’t want to make the crime common knowledge and thereby protect her family honor), she was informed by other personnel that the SHO was asleep and that she should return in the morning.
The next day IA again went to the Police Station where the SHO agreed to file an FIR. He also took possession of the clothes she was wearing at the time of the crime, i.e. most important piece of evidence, and didn’t take any signature on the FIR, of the victim or her husband. He also didn’t give them a copy of the FIR as is required under the Criminal Procedure Code.
The SHO sent some police officers to IA’s home to collect evidence. There, in Ajab’s home, they found three different Computerized National Identification Cards (CNIC), and heroin. They took possession of these cards and the heroin. According to the victim, all the ID cards were original and issued by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), a State body that issues ID cards. Multiple cards issued in different names to same person speak of the State’s commitment to the National Action Plan and the eradication of terrorism.
The victim and her husband subsequently went from pillar to post to get the FIR registered; they visited the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa Province, and the District Superintendent Police (DSP) in Mardan, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Finally, 21 days later and upon pressure from civil society activists, an FIR was registered at Akbar Pura Police Station.
But it later turned out that the police had filed the complaint against Javaid Khan, a fake name of Ajab Khan, which he had told the victim’s husband about earlier. There was no mention of the rape in the FIR. It is clear from the FIR that the story mentioned therein has been concocted to allow the culprit a safe escape; it plays down the entire incident as a robbery.
To add insult to injury, IA was sent a notice to appear for a medical examination one month after the crime. Any person cognizant with medical forensics would know that proving rape medically becomes impossible after 48 hours, as all traces disappear. The real purpose behind the notice, according to the victim, was to dishonor her in the eyes of her family, and her neighbors, who were unaware of her rape.
On December 6, Ajab was arrested. IA thought that her torment was finally over. However her hope was short lived. Ajab’s father and brother began pressuring her to withdraw her complaint. The police too forced her to take back the case against Ajab. They threatened to implicate IA and her husband in the murder case of a different senior lady health worker and her friend if she refused to do comply.
IA and her family are living under constant threat. She has been denied her basic right to life with dignity as envisaged in Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which states: “The dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable.”
Furthermore, the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), to which Pakistan is also a signatory, states the following in Recommendation 24:
“(a) States parties should take appropriate and effective measures to overcome all forms of gender-based violence, whether by public or private act;
“(b) States parties should ensure that laws against family violence and abuse, rape, sexual assault and other gender-based violence give adequate protection to all women, and respect their integrity and dignity. Appropriate protective and support services should be provided for victims. Gender-sensitive training of judicial and law enforcement officers and other public officials is essential for the effective implementation of the Convention;”
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
It is estimated that a rape occurs in Pakistan every two hours and a gang rape every eight hours. The real statistics would be far more discomfiting, as most such cases go unreported. Many victims are shamed into silence for fear of being ostracized by society, and they never approach the authorities to seek justice. If a woman musters up courage to knock at the doors of justice, she is caught in a legal labyrinth, which results in more dishonor and extended suffering.
In 95 percent of cases, rapists remain at large and even if police do manage to arrest them, they walk free with minimal punishment, whereas the victims are left with lifelong humiliation, shame, and social isolation in the Pakistani society. When law enforcers break the law themselves, and are themselves raping women with impunity, where does a woman turn for justice?
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities asking them to provide justice to the female health worker and prosecute the police officers involved in the heinous crime and bring the perpetrators to book. Please urge them to hold an enquiry in the case of gang rape and misuse of power by law enforcement persons. The victim and her family should be relocated to a safe place, where they are able to lead a normal life, free from threat and violence.
The AHRC will write a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women calling for the Special Rapporteur’s intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ………………..,
PAKISTAN: Call for justice to a lady health worker raped for administering polio drops
Name of victim:
Ms. IA [real name withheld], 34, wife of Javed, and a mother of five, resident of Ballo Village in Nowshera District, Khyber Punkhtoonkha province (KPK).
Names of alleged perpetrators:
Ajab Khan, son of Akal Khan, who is from the Khyber Agency, resident of Ballo Village in Nowshera District, Khyber Punkhtoonkha province (KPK).
Date of incident: August 28, 2015
Place of incident: Ballo Village in Nowshera District, Khyber Punkhtoonkha province (KPK).
I am writing to voice my deep concern about a lady health worker being gang raped, allegedly by police personnel who have tried to pass themselves off as Frontier Corp personnel. The woman, a mother of five, was gang raped in front of her children and husband when she refused to stop administering polio drops to young children. As the chief culprit is well placed and influential, the police refused to register the victim’s first information report (FIR), and later, upon pressure from different quarters, registered a faulty FIR, which seeks to link her husband with drug possession. The woman has been running from pillar to post seeking justice, but has so far been unsuccessful.
According to the information I received, Ms. IA [real name withheld], 34, wife of Javed, and a mother of five, is a resident of Ballo Village in Nowshera District Khyber Punkhtoonkha province (KPK). IA, along with her family, lives in a two-story house. The family rented out the ground floor to Ajab Khan, son of Akal Khan, who is from the Khyber Agency. Ajab and his family moved into the ground floor of IA’s house. He has introduced himself the personal from Frontier Corp (FC).
I am shocked to know that a man who claim s as the official from FC but was against the health care of the children. When Ajab learned that IA is a health worker, he told her that her earnings are haram (illegitimate) because she administers polio drops. Ajab, it later transpired, is an absconder from Bannu Jail KP province), but has a history of roaming around the village in police uniform.
There is a common misconception amongst the people from tribal areas – for instance in Khyber Agency – that polio drops are a conspiracy of the West to make their children impotent, Religious leaders from tribal belts have also issued an edict forbidding parents from letting their children get polio drops. As a result, polio is still endemic in Pakistan, having been eradicated elsewhere in the world.
In her commitment to eradicate polio from Pakistan, despite the threat, IA refused to back down from her work, resolving to play her part to improve children’s lives. According to IA, when Ajab threatened her with dire consequences if she didn’t stop administering polio drops, IA asked him to vacate the house.
The very next day, on August 28, Ajab left with his family. However, he had not taken away his belongings. Later that evening IA heard some noises coming from the ground floor; she thought maybe Ajab had returned to take away his belongings.
At around 11:30 p.m. there was a loud knock on the door; IA got scared and asked her husband to call the police, fearing that Ajab was up to no good. The minute she mentioned police, a group of five men barged into the house, breaking open the door. Two of the men were dressed in police uniform, and they had their faces covered.
It is appalling for me that IA was brutally beaten and ganged in front of her children and husband. The rapists also took away Pak Rupees 40,000, cell phones, and other valuables from the house. Before leaving, they threatened the family not to report the crime; they also told IA to leave her job as a health worker or she would be gang raped again. IA’s children were also manhandled. Her 13-year-old daughter was strangled by one of the men when she tried to protect her mother. Bruised, the girl survived the attempt on her life.
The incident was immediately reported at the Akbar Pura Police Station. However, when IA tried to approach the Station House Officer (SHO) to report the rape (as she didn’t want to make the crime common knowledge and thereby protect her family honor), she was informed by other personnel that the SHO was asleep and that she should return in the morning.
The next day IA again went to the Police Station where the SHO agreed to file an FIR. He also took possession of the clothes she was wearing at the time of the crime, i.e. most important piece of evidence, and didn’t take any signature on the FIR, of the victim or her husband. He also didn’t give them a copy of the FIR as is required under the Criminal Procedure Code.
The SHO sent some police officers to IA’s home to collect evidence. There, in Ajab’s home, they found three different Computerized National Identification Cards (CNIC), and heroin. They took possession of these cards and the heroin. According to the victim, all the ID cards were original and issued by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), a State body that issues ID cards. Multiple cards issued in different names to same person speak of the State’s commitment to the National Action Plan and the eradication of terrorism.
This upsets me that the victim and her husband subsequently went from pillar to post to get the FIR registered; they visited the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa Province, and the District Superintendent Police (DSP) in Mardan, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Finally, 21 days later and upon pressure from civil society activists, an FIR was registered at Akbar Pura Police Station.
But it later turned out that the police had filed the complaint against Javaid Khan, a fake name of Ajab Khan, which he had told the victim’s husband about earlier. There was no mention of the rape in the FIR. It is clear from the FIR that the story mentioned therein has been concocted to allow the culprit a safe escape; it plays down the entire incident as a robbery.
To add insult to injury, IA was sent a notice to appear for a medical examination one month after the crime. Any person cognizant with medical forensics would know that proving rape medically becomes impossible after 48 hours, as all traces disappear. The real purpose behind the notice, according to the victim, was to dishonor her in the eyes of her family, and her neighbors, who were unaware of her rape.
On December 6, Ajab was arrested. IA thought that her torment was finally over. However her hope was short lived. Ajab’s father and brother began pressuring her to withdraw her complaint. The police too forced her to take back the case against Ajab. They threatened to implicate IA and her husband in the murder case of a different senior lady health worker and her friend if she refused to do comply.
IA and her family are living under constant threat. She has been denied her basic right to life with dignity as envisaged in Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which states: “The dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable.”
Furthermore, the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), to which Pakistan is also a signatory, states the following in Recommendation 24:
“(a) States parties should take appropriate and effective measures to overcome all forms of gender-based violence, whether by public or private act;
“(b) States parties should ensure that laws against family violence and abuse, rape, sexual assault and other gender-based violence give adequate protection to all women, and respect their integrity and dignity. Appropriate protective and support services should be provided for victims. Gender-sensitive training of judicial and law enforcement officers and other public officials is essential for the effective implementation of the Convention;”
I therefore, urge upon you to provide justice to the female health worker and prosecute the police officers involved in the heinous crime and bring the perpetrators to book. And also hold an enquiry in the case of gang rape and misuse of power by law enforcement persons. The victim and her family should be relocated to a safe place, where they are able to lead a normal life, free from threat and violence.
Yours sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Telephone: +92 51 920 6111, +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk, pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
2. Mr. Parvez Khattak
Chief Minister KPK
Chief Minister Secretariat Shahibzada Abdul Qayum Road, Peshawar
Telephone: 091-9222460-464
Fax 091-9212237
Email: complaints@crckp.gov.pk
3. Mr. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Minister
Ministry of Interior of Pakistan
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Telephone: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
Email: interior.complaintcell@gmail.com, ministry.interior@gmail.com
4. Mr. Pervez Rashid
Minister
Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights of Pakistan
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
5.Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court
Peshawar High Court, Khyber Road, Peshawar,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Telephone:+92-91-9210149-58
Fax: +92-91-9210170
6. Mr. Nasir Durrani
Inspector General Police Kyber Pakhtunkhwa
Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Road, Civil Secretariat Peshawar,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Telephone 9210084
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
