After all this poor woman has gone through, finally there is hope for justice.
Braveheart Sonia slays the dragon
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: Finally, she has done it. Sonia Naz has slain the dragon against screaming odds and covered some distance to heal her wounds sustained in what seemed like a never-ending nightmare. The Punjab police inquiry team led by DIG Zafar Qureshi has found allegations of her rape by SP Khalid Abdullah and Inspector Jamshed Chishti “substantial” and recommended a comprehensive probe against the SP after the registration of an FIR. The 300-page report says that evidences produced by Sonia to substantiate the charge of rape were powerful and convincing. The committee recommended that SP Abdullah Khalid should be arrested and be asked to prove that he was “innocent”. The report has also confirmed that SP Abdullah had not only kept the husband of Sonia Naz in illegal confinement for 15 days and tortured him, but also told white lies to both the media and the committee about the whereabouts Asim.
It also confirmed that he had taken Rs1.4 million as bribe from Sonia’s family in exchange of Asim’s freedom from illegal confinement. He also received huge amounts from the other 16 co-accused of Asim Yousaf in the Excise Department to clear them of charges of fraud. The committee has also recommended to the Punjab government to convert the application of Sonia Naz lying with Johar Town police station for the last two weeks into an FIR as she had proved her allegations. A top level source in the Punjab government disclosed to this correspondent on condition of anonymity that action against SP Abdullah, DIG Faisalabad Sajjad Ahmed Chaudhary and Inspector Jamshed Chishti was taken in the light of inquiry reports of both the inquiry committees constituted by Punjab government as they had made almost similar recommendations. Even the judicial inquiry headed by District and Session Judge has found the charges of Sonia Naz and her family correct despite the fact that none of them appeared before the tribunal after expressing their no-confidence in the proceedings.
The judicial inquiry report had also found SP Abdullah Khalid and Inspector Jamshed Chishti “guilty” as charged. The committee examined 67 witnesses and was in constant touch with Sonia Naz whose charges and witnesses were very comprehensively and minutely examined by it. Sources said the inquiry team was quite satisfied with the evidences produced during the investigation. Sonia Naz had given major clues to establish her claims that she was raped by SP Abdullah and Inspector Chishti. When counter-checked, some of those evidences led the committee to believe that Sonia was indeed subjected to rape and that SP needed to be probed further and that was possible only after registration of case against him. The committee came to the conclusion that FIR should be registered against SP Abdullah for further probe and before that he should be removed from service as he had tarnished the image of police.
The official said the inquiry report is so comprehensive that it covers all the aspects of the case. The committee cross-examined many important witnesses and arrived at the conclusion that Sonia Naz was wronged by Faisalabad cops and immediate action was needed to give justice to the victim, whose husband had divorced her. It is learnt that on many occasions Sonia Naz stayed in the office of inquiry officers till late night to testify before the committee to substantiate her allegations of rape and torture. Sources said the inquiry team made a major breakthrough when the primary rape accused Inspector Jamshed Chisti confessed that SP Abdullah had kept Asim in illegal custody for 15 days and took millions of rupees as bribe. He said that the SP had been telling big lies before the committee in this regard. It was also proved that Inspector Chishti had also received Rs0.2 million from the family of Asim Yousaf and had told them not to tell SP Abdullah about this money. Sources said the committee was also given many evidences by the official of excise office Faisalabad that SP Abdullah had taken million of rupees not only from the owners of expensive motor cars but the officials of the department at every level who had issued fake registration numbers. Sources said the inquiry team had emphasised that if its recommendations were given serious consideration, it may help restore the tarnished image of police force which otherwise, would lead to a complete lack of trust in the eyes of people. The rape occurred in May but the first inquiry report has been compiled after four months when The News first broke the story on August 30.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2005-daily/20-09-2005/main/main6.htm