Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a minor girl and her mother being set on fire after their being gang-raped by three men. The girl, who suffered 90% burns, died the following day in hospital, while the mother has survived her 60% burns, regaining consciousness from coma after 26 days. The police attempted to bury the incident of gang rape, burning, and murder, by refusing to lodge a case. Following an expose in the media – where the mother narrated the tragic story, which began with drug laced tea – and on the orders of the District and Sessions Court, a case of murder and rape has been filed in the local police station 30 days after the incident. The police, however, continue to stall and have not arrested any of the accused.
CASE NARRATIVE:
A 12-year-old girl, Sheema Solangi and her mother, Allah Wadhai, 41, used to sell home-stitched traditional Sindhi bed sheets (Rallies) from village to village. However, one day, their routine work took a tragic turn.
According to Allah Wadhai’s narrative, published in local media such as The Frontier Post, on February 28 2015, as per usual, she and her daughter were selling their traditional wares. On this day they were making sales in a village called Mio Mehar Goth, District Ghotki, Sindh Province. By the time they reached the house of Hashim Mochi, it was sunset. There, the three alleged rapists, Noor Hasan, Gul Hasan Mochi, and Hashim Mochi, insisted that the mother and daughter stay the night at the straw hut outside their home, as the weather did not suit them returning to their village. The three men served tea and after consuming it, Sheema went to sleep. After a while, Allah Wadhai heard the screams of Sheema and tried to save her but failed. Later, the accused, Noor Hasan, Gul Hasan and Hashim Mochi torched the hut and escaped.
Allah Wadhai, who regained consciousness after a 26-day coma, divulged the full story to media reporters, after she learned about her daughter’s death. She disclosed that both mother and daughter had been gang-raped by the 3 men and that following this they tried to kill both by torching the hut.
The day after the incident, Allah Wadhai’s son, Sadiq Solangi, with the help of a local landlord, brought his mother and sister, who were in critical condition, to the local hospital in Daharki. The hospital refused to treat them, claiming no system to handle burn victims. In that critical condition, mother and daughter were shifted to another District hospital in Rahim Yar Khan, 50 kilometers away. In the interim, Sheema, the minor daughter, succumbed to her injuries.
Taj Mohammad Solangi and Sadiq Solangi, father and brother of Sheema, along with neighbours, went to the Khenju Police Station to register a case. However, the Station House Officer (SHO), Inspector Iqbal Rajper, refused to file a case against alleged perpetrators and instead advised the father to make a settlement with the perpetrators, arguing that nothing will happen if they file a case.
In the meantime Sadiq Solangi filed an application in the District and Session court of Ghotki to in relation to the gang rape and murder of his sister. On March 30 the judge ordered the Civil Magistrate of Daharki District to make it sure that Khenju police station files the case against the perpetrators. Following this intervention, a case was registered against the three alleged perpetrators under Sections 302, 324, 376, 511, 437, of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Allah Wadhai has been released from the Shaikh Zaid Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan District, as the family is very poor and could not bear the hospital expenses. Media reports suggest that if Allah Wadhai cannot be provided proper medical treatment it may result in her falling into a coma again or even dying.
Civil society in Pakistan has not come out in support of the victim’s family. The crimes of gang rape are on the increase in Pakistan and such incidents have stopped shocking civil society. The main reason for the insensitivity in society is the non-functioning of the Judiciary and the absence of a proper criminal justice system. In the cases of rape, not a single person has been prosecuted or received a sentence in accordance with the law.
The Khenju police have not arrested the alleged perpetrators, even after the Sessions Court order. Local media has reported that the local police have helped the perpetrators escape from the District. High officials of the provincial police have not taken any responsibility to arrest the perpetrators and bring them before the court of law. The police in Pakistan are most sensitive to hierarchy and follow orders of higher authorities of government. However, if the authorities are least interested in addressing such heinous crimes local police care less about following duties.
The Daily Dawn newspaper has commented that rape is notoriously difficult to prosecute in Pakistan. In April 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of five men sentenced to death in Pakistan’s most famous rape case, the Mukhtar Mai case. Mai was gang raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council as punishment, after her brother, who was aged just 12 at the time, was accused of having illicit relations with a woman from a rival clan. A local court had sentenced six men to death, but a higher court acquitted five of them in March 2005, and commuted the sentence for the main accused, Abdul Khaliq, to life imprisonment.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the following authorities calling upon them to follow their lawful duties and probe the negligence of police for not arresting the accused persons or using delay tactics for filing the criminal case against the perpetrators. Please urge the authorities to investigate and prosecute those involved in the gang rape and setting on fire of the minor and her mother. The government must also provide all necessary medical treatment to the survivor Allah Wadhai and provide security for her family members – as local police and the alleged rapists will not tolerate a poor family going to court to try and get justice.
The AHRC will be writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women calling for intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ………………..,
PAKISTAN: Mother and daughter gang-raped and burned alive; police protect rapists, murderers
Name of Victims:
1. Sheema Solangi, 12, daughter of Taj Mohammad Solangi, resident of Goth Pethal, Dharki, District Ghotki, Sindh
2. Allah Wadhai, 41, wife of Taj Mohammad Solangi, resident of Goth Pethal, Dharki, District Ghotki, Sindh
Names of Alleged Perpetrators:
1. Mr. Hashim Hasn Mochi, resident of Menho Mehar Village, Dharki, District Ghotki, Sindh
2. Mr. Noor Hasan, resident of Menho Mehar Village, Dharki, District Ghotki, Sindh
3. Mr. Gul Hasan Mochi, resident of Menho Mehar Village, Dharki, District Ghotki, Sindh
4. Mr. Iqbal Rajper, Inspector of Police and Station House Officer (SHO) of the Khenju Police Station, Dharki, Ghotki District, Sindh
Date of Incident: 28 February 2015
Place of Incident: Menho Mehar Village, Dharki, District Ghotki, Sindh
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the gang rape and burning alive of a 12-year-old minor. The girl was gang raped along with her mother by three men and then both mother and daughter were set on fire to eliminate evidence.
I am shocked to know that the 12-year-old girl suffered 90% burns and died the next day in hospital, while her mother suffered 60% burns and remained in coma for 26 days. The local police tried to bury the case of gang rape and burning of mother and minor daughter for 26 days till the mother herself narrated the whole story of gang rape.
I bring in your notice the detail of the case that a12 year old girl, Sheema Solangi and her mother, Allah Wadhai, 41, were selling the home stitched traditional Sindhi bed sheets, the Rallies, in different villages. Mother Allah Wadhai, becoming conscious after 26 of her burn injuries, told the media reporters about the incident when she came to know that her daughter was died next day when she faced the ordeal of gang rape and burning her.
According to Allah Wadhai’s narrative, published in local media such as The Frontier Post, on February 28 2015, as per usual, she and her daughter were selling their traditional wares. On this day they were making sales in a village called Mihno Mehar Goth, District Ghotki, Sindh Province. By the time they reached the house of Hashim Mochi, it was sunset. There, the three alleged rapists, Noor Hasan, Gul Hasan Mochi, and Hashim Mochi, insisted that the mother and daughter stay the night at the straw hut outside their home, as the weather did not suit them returning to their village. The three men served tea and after consuming it, Sheema went to sleep. After a while, Allah Wadhai heard the screams of Sheema and tried to save her but failed. Later, the accused, Noor Hasan, Gul Hasan and Hashim Mochi torched the hut and escaped.
Allah Wadhai, who regained consciousness after a 26-day coma, divulged the full story to media reporters, after she learned about her daughter’s death. She disclosed that both mother and daughter had been gang-raped by the 3 men and that following this they tried to kill both by torching the hut.
The day after the incident, Allah Wadhai’s son, Sadiq Solangi, with the help of a local landlord, brought his mother and sister, who were in critical condition, to the local hospital in Daharki. The hospital refused to treat them, claiming no system to handle burn victims. In that critical condition, mother and daughter were shifted to another District hospital in Rahim Yar Khan, 50 kilometers away. In the interim, Sheema, the minor daughter, succumbed to her injuries.
Taj Mohammad Solangi and Sadiq Solangi, father and brother of Sheema, along with neighbours, went to the Khenju Police Station to register a case. However, the Station House Officer (SHO), Inspector Iqbal Rajper, refused to file a case against alleged perpetrators and instead advised the father to make a settlement with the perpetrators, arguing that nothing will happen if they file a case.
In the meantime Sadiq Solangi filed an application in the District and Session court of Ghotki to in relation to the gang rape and murder of his sister. On March 30 the judge ordered the Civil Magistrate of Daharki District to make it sure that Khenju police station files the case against the perpetrators. Following this intervention, a case was registered against the three alleged perpetrators under Sections 302, 324, 376, 511, 437, of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Allah Wadhai has been released from the Shaikh Zaid Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan District, as the family is very poor and could not bear the hospital expenses. Media reports suggest that if Allah Wadhai cannot be provided proper medical treatment it may result in her falling into a coma again or even dying.
Civil society in Pakistan has not come out in support of the victim’s family. The crimes of gang rape are on the increase in Pakistan and such incidents have stopped shocking civil society. The main reason for the insensitivity in society is the non-functioning of the Judiciary and the absence of a proper criminal justice system. In the cases of rape, not a single person has been prosecuted or received a sentence in accordance with the law.
The Khenju police have not arrested the alleged perpetrators, even after the Sessions Court order. Local media has reported that the local police have helped the perpetrators escape from the District. High officials of the provincial police have not taken any responsibility to arrest the perpetrators and bring them before the court of law. The police in Pakistan are most sensitive to hierarchy and follow orders of higher authorities of government. However, if the authorities are least interested in addressing such heinous crimes local police care less about following duties.
The Daily Dawn newspaper has commented that rape is notoriously difficult to prosecute in Pakistan. In April 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of five men sentenced to death in Pakistan’s most famous rape case, the Mukhtar Mai case. Mai was gang raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council as punishment, after her brother, who was aged just 12 at the time, was accused of having illicit relations with a woman from a rival clan. A local court had sentenced six men to death, but a higher court acquitted five of them in March 2005, and commuted the sentence for the main accused, Abdul Khaliq, to life imprisonment.
I therefore urge you to probe the negligence of police for not arresting the accused persons alleged to have gang raped and burned alive a 12 year minor and her mother and for also stalling the filing of a criminal case against the perpetrators. The government must provide all necessary medical treatment to survivor Allah Wadhai and provide security to her family members because they may suffer reprisals from the perpetrators and even the police for seeking justice.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk, pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
2. Mr. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister of Sindh
The Government of Sindh Province
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
Email: pressecy@cmsindh.gov.pk
3. Mr. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Minister
Ministry of Interior of Pakistan
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +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. Mr. Tahir Shahbaz
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9213452
Email: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
6. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
