Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a couple, who was missing after their arrest by police officers from two stations on the instructions of a high ranking police official, was kept in a private detention place unofficially run by the police, for many days where they were tortured and abused. The release of the couple was possible only after the issuance of urgent appeal by the AHRC (Please see the original Urgent Appeal: AHRC-UAC-038-2011) on which enquiries were initiated by the offices of the prime minister and chief minister of Sindh, but even then police took huge amount of ransom before releasing them. The officials of Ghotki police in retaliation also illegally occupied the houses of the all the brothers of the groom’s father and destroyed the standing crop of wheat in seven and a half acres of the land and stopped the crop of the sugarcanes to be delivered at the sugar factories.
The father of the bride has again threatened that the couple should be killed or burned alive. Even after the directives of the offices of the prime minister and chief minister of Sindh the police have still not started any enquiry in to the case.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
Mr. Shahid Ali Shahani, 20, son of Haji Shah Nawaz Shahani, resident of Ghotki, married Ms. Nazia, 18, daughter of Ghulam Hussain Shahani, (in previous urgent appeal her name was mistakenly written as Nadia) in a civil court at Malir, Karachi, Sindh in the month of November 2010. Mr. Ghulam Hussain Shahani, the father of the bride, was against the marriage when Shaid Ali’s family sent a formal request for the marriage of his daughter to their son. Ghulam Hussain accepted the proposal on the condition that one teen age girl from Shahid’s family should be given to him in marriage. Ghulam is 70 years old and was previously married ten times. Eight of them ended in divorce. Ghulam is a businessman and runs a car show room in Ghotki. It is alleged that he deals in stolen cars or those cars which are smuggled from Iran. It is also alleged that Ghulam has a business partnership with Gul Hassan Lohar, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of police who provides him protection for his business. After their marriage the family of the bride threatened that they would be killed in honour killings. Ghulam filed a case of abduction against the groom, Shahid Ali, in Ghotki. On 23 January 2011, the case of abduction was fixed in the session court of Ghotki. The couple arrived on 22 January at the house of the groom to attend the court proceedings against them and to submit their marriage certificate. The information was leaked to the family members of Ghulam Hussain and the DSP. In the early hours of 23 January at 4AM the police from two police stations, namely Adil Pur and Ghotki, raided the house of the groom. They came in two police vehicles and the DSP was leading the raid. The male members of the Ghulam family were also with the police party. They broke open the doors of the house and fired their weapons in the air. The women were abused and beaten and the hand of a sister-in-law of the groom was fractured. The police also took away Rs. 200,000 and gold from the house. The Police arrested the couple and until their release their whereabouts were unknown.
After the issuance of urgent appeal from AHRC the secretariat of the chief minister of Sindh issued a letter NO. PA/SA/CM/PCC/2008/9365 dated 21 March 2011 to the deputy inspector General of Police, Sukkur zone, directing to furnish the fact finding report. The Prime Minister secretariat has also issued a letter to the provincial police officer (Inspector General of Police) with reference number PMS/OGW/478/Hong Kong/2011 dated 24 March 2011 to take appropriate action in the case. But the Sindh police instead of taking any action against the perpetrators just told them about the letters and have still not initiated any action.
After finding the kind support from the high police officials, the local police of Ghotki police station released the couple by throwing them blind folded on the main Rohri by pass near Sukkur city, Sindh province. The couple was kept many days in a private detention center of the police at Sealro Goth, according to the couple they were tortured, and kept blind folded. Food was provided them only one time in a day. They do not know the exact number of days they spent in the detention center as the house was always kept dark. One assistant sub inspector of police (ASI) Pir Bux Sealro of Ghotki police station and some unknown constables were visiting there and threatening them that they would be killed in an honour killing.
On 24 April 2011 at the evening, when the male persons of the family of groom were not at the house, two ASIs rank officers, Nasrullah Soomro alias Munshi and Mehboob Meerani, leading a police party of more than dozen police men, attacked the Ali Gul Shahani’s resident at Sodo Shahani village, the uncle of the groom Shahid Shahani, did aerial firing and kicked out all the females and children from the house and occupied it. The police officials announced that if any person tried to open the house he or she would be killed in a police encounter. On 25 April, the police men came in uniforms and civilian dress and brought the machine of cutting the crop of wheat and took away all the wheat from seven and half acres of land. They also took away the crop of fodder from the nearby field of two acres. The all the relatives ran away from the village and among them 22 members took the shelter in Karachi city, the capital of Sindh province, 500 kilometers far from their village.
The grandmother of the groom, Shahid Shahani, next day went to meet the district police officer (DPO), the highest police officer of the district Ghotki, with the copy of Quran, a holy book of the Muslims, the DPO, Mr. Pir Mohammad Shah, first refused to listen to her grievance but when she put the holy book in his hands he gave her a slip in the name of the station house officer (SHO), the head of the police station, to file case against the police officials who occupied the house and stole the crops. The grandmother went to Ghotki police station but the swore at her and kicked her out from the police station. In the same evening the police men attacked the house of the father to search for the couple and locked the house. So this process was done with three other uncles of the groom namely, Fateh Mohammad, Shahzad and Mumtaz.
On the other hand the father of the bride, Ghulam Hussain Shahani, 70, has again declared the couple to be killed in the name of honour and ordered his tribesmen to do so. As according to the couple’s statement before some media men in Karachi city, Ghulam said that if the couple is captured he will burn them with his own hands.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send the urgent appeal to the authorities urging them to take action against the officials of the Ghotki police station and other high official of the district for keeping the couple in illegal detention in a private detention center and occupying the houses of the groom’s family members. Please also urge them to prosecute the police officials for taking law into their hand and misusing their official position.
The AHRC writes a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment and on Violence Against Women calling for their intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Police officials kept newlywed couple in a private detention center and released them after receiving ransom, the couple is facing threats to their life
Name of victims:
1.Mr. Shahid Ali Shahani, aged 20, (groom) son of Shah Nawaz, resident of Sodo Shahani, Ghotki, Sindh province
2. Ms.Nadia, aged18, (bride) daughter of Ghulam Hussain Shahani, resident of Sodo Shahani, Ghotki, Sindh province
3. Mr. Shahnawaz Shahani, resident of Sodo Shahani, Ghotki, Sindh province
4. Mr. Ali Gul Shahani, resident of Sodo Shahani, Ghotki, Sindh province
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1.Mr. Gul Hassan Lohar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Ghotki, District Ghotki
2. Station House Officer (SHO) of Ghotki police station, Ghotki
3. Station House Officer (SHO) Adil Pur police station, Ghotki district
4. ASI Nasrullah Soomro alias Munshi, Ghotki police station
5.. ASI Pir Bux Sealro, Ghotki police station.
All are employed in the Sindh province
4. Mr. Ghulam Hussain Shahani, father of Nadia, resident of Sodo Shahani, District Ghotki, Sindh province
Date of incident: 24 April 2011
Place of incident: Sodo Shahani goth, Ghotki district, Sindh province
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the illegal detention of a newlywed couple by the officials of the Ghotki police station, Sindh province, in a private detention center at Sealro Goth of Ghotki district and their release after getting the ransom of huge amount. After their release the police are still working to help the father of the bride to get revenge from the couple for deciding their marriage on their own choice and police officials occupied the houses of the family members of the groom illegally and destroyed the standing crops on the fields belong to the family of groom.
I am shocked that police in the rural areas like Ghotki are running their private detention centers and using their official position to get ransom for illegal detention. This is totally violation of the constitution and the law of the land which guarantee the rights of the individuals to marry on their own choice and prohibits the law enforcement agencies to run the private detention centers.
I was dismayed to see that the writ of the government, the federal as well as the provincial, that after receiving the directions from the prime minister secretariat and chief minister of Sindh province secretariat to take action against the perpetrators the police just put aside the directions and did their routine method of squeezing the victims and their family members.
The details of the case are as following; Mr. Shahid Ali Shahani, 20, son of Haji Shah Nawaz Shahani, resident of Ghotki, married Ms. Nazia, 18, daughter of Ghulam Hussain Shahani, (in previous urgent appeal her name was mistakenly written as Nadia) in a civil court at Malir, Karachi, Sindh in the month of November 2010. Mr. Ghulam Hussain Shahani, the father of the bride, was against the marriage when Shaid Ali’s family sent a formal request for the marriage of his daughter to their son. Ghulam Hussain accepted the proposal on the condition that one teen age girl from Shahid’s family should be given to him in marriage. Ghulam is 70 years old and was previously married ten times. Eight of them ended in divorced. Ghulam is a businessman and runs a car show room in Ghotki. It is alleged that he deals in stolen cars or those cars which are smuggled from Iran. It is also alleged that Ghulam has a business partnership with Gul Hassan Lohar, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of police who provides him protection for his business. After their marriage the family of the bride threatened that they would be killed in honour killings. Ghulam filed a case of abduction against the groom, Shahid Ali, in Ghotki. On 23 January 2011, the case of abduction was fixed in the session court of Ghotki. The couple arrived on 22 January at the house of the groom to attend the court proceedings against them and to submit their marriage certificate. The information was leaked to the family members of Ghulam Hussain and the DSP. In the early hours of 23 January at 4AM the police from two police stations, namely Adil Pur and Ghotki, raided the house of the groom. They came in two police vehicles and the DSP was leading the raid. The male members of the Ghulam family were also with the police party. They broke open the doors of the house and fired their weapons in the air. The women were abused and beaten and the hand of a sister-in-law of the groom was fractured. The police also took away Rs. 200,000 and gold from the house. The Police arrested the couple and since then their whereabouts are known.
After issuance of urgent appeal from AHRC the secretariat of the chief minister of Sindh issued a letter NO. PA/SA/CM/PCC/2008/9365 dated 21 March 2011to the deputy inspector General of Police, Sukkur zone, directing to furnish the fact finding report. The Prime Minister secretariat has also issued a letter to the provincial police officer (Inspector General of Police) with reference number PMS/OGW/478/Hong Kong/2011 dated 24 March 2011 to take appropriate action in the case. But the Sindh police instead of taking any action against the perpetrators just told them about the letters and have still not initiated any action.
After finding the kind support from the high police officials, the local police of Ghotki police station released the couple by throwing them blind folded on the main Rohri by pass near Sukkur city, Sindh province. The couple was kept many days in a private detention center of the police at Sealro Goth, according to the couple they were tortured, much time kept blind folded food was provided them only one time in a day. They do not know the exact numbers of the days in detention center as the house was always kept in dark. One assistant sub inspector of police (ASI) Pir Bux Sealro of Ghotki police station and some unknown constables were visiting there and threatening them that they would be killed in case of honour killing.
On 24 April 2011 at the evening, when the male persons of the family of groom were not at the house, two ASIs rank officers, Nasrullah Soomro alias Munshi and Mehboob Meerani, leadin a police party of more than dozen police men, attacked the Ali Gul Shahani’s resident at Sodo Shahani village, the uncle of the groom Shahid Shahani, did aerial firing and kicked out all the females and children from the house and occupied it. The police officials announced that if any person tried to open the house he or she would be killed in police encounter. Next day, the 25 April the police men came in uniforms and civilian dress and brought the machine of cutting the crop of wheat and took away all the wheat from seven and half acres of land. They also took away the crop of fodder from the nearby field of two acres. The all the relatives ran away from the village and among them 22 members took the shelter in Karachi city, the capital of Sindh province, 500 kilometers far from their village.
The grandmother of the groom, Shahid Shahani, next day went to meet the district police officer (DPO), the highest police officer of the district Ghotki, with the copy of Quran, a holy book of the Muslims, the DPO, Mr. Pir Mohammad Shah, first refused to listen her grievance but when she put holy book in his hands then he gave her a slip in the name of the station house officer (SHO), the head of the police station, to file case against the police officials who occupied the house and stolen the crops. The grand mother went to Ghotki police station that used filthy language against grandmother and kicked her out from the police station. In the same evening the police men attacked to house his father to search for the couple and locked the house. So this process was done with three other uncles of the groom namely, Fateh Mohammad, Shahzad and Mumtaz.
On the other hand the father of the bride, Ghulam Hussain Shahani, 70, has again declared the couple to be killed in the name of honour and ordered his tribesmen to do so. As according to the couple’s statement before some media men in Karachi city, Ghulam said that if the couple is captured he will burn them with his own hands.
I urge you to conduct an enquiry in to the matter running of a private detention center and releasing the poor folk on ransom by the Ghotki police, district Ghotki, Sindh province. The government should prosecute the perpetrators for keeping the couple illegal, destroying their standing crops and torturing the newlywed couple. The couple and the family members of the groom should be paid compensation for their ordeal and provide protection from the police to the couple.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9204801/9214171
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk
2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk
3. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
E-mail: pppsindh@yahoo.com
4. Mr. Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +9251-9204108
Email: sarfaraz_yousuf@yahoo.com
5. Mr. Muhammad Ayaz Soomro
Minister for Law, Parliamantry Affairs & Criminal Prosecution Service
Sindh Assembly Building,
Court road, Karachi, Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9211982
E-mail: secy.law@sindh.gov.pk
6. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk
7. Ms. Nadia Gabol
Minister for Human Rights
Government of Sindh,
Pakistan secretariat, Barrack 92,
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9207044
Tel: +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043
E-mail: lukshmil@yahoo.com
8. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
9. Inspector General of Police
Police Head office, I. I. Chundrigar road
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9212051
E-mail: ppo.sindh@sindhpolice.gov.pk
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
