A three-year-old girl has been killed during an attempted rape in the Pakistani city of Multan, police say. Multan is in the Punjab district of Pakistan.
Officers say they have detained a man, a security guard who was living in a vacant house in the same neighbourhood.
They say he has confessed to the crime and has said he lured the girl to the house where he tried to rape her, during which she died.
A medical report into the incident is still being prepared.
The Express Tribune newspaper reports that the girl went missing and was found an hour later.
Earlier this year, the death of a teenager who had set herself on fire when police dropped charges against those accused of attempting to rape her prompted outrage in Pakistan, particularly on social media.
Officials said 18-year-old Amina Bibi self-immolated outside a police station in the district of Muzaffargarh.
She had accused officers of failing to investigate properly claims that she was sexually assaulted by several men on the way to college in January.
Correspondents say rape cases are rarely prosecuted in Pakistan.
Women who complain are often stigmatised, but it is rare for alleged sexual abuse victims to take such desperate measures, says the BBC's World Service's South Asia editor Anbarasan Ethirajan.
The incident has caused outrage in Pakistan, particularly on social media, our correspondent adds.
Ms Bibi had complained that she was attacked by several men. The main suspect was initially arrested, and freed on bail, officials say. The other men allegedly involved were never identified.
But police dropped charges against the main accused on Thursday, saying there was not enough evidence.
When she heard this, Ms Bibi went to the police station in the Muzaffargarh district in southern Punjab to lodge a protest.
Later she doused her clothes in petrol and set herself on fire outside the police station.
"She was already depressed after going through the trauma, but after the release of the accused, she lost all hope of getting justice and set herself on fire," her brother Ghulam Shabir told Reuters.
He said his sister had been kidnapped in January and the attackers had tried to rape her.
Pakistan's independent Human Rights Commission has condemned the incident.
In a statement the organisation said it hoped the government would "immediately launch practical measures to ensure that no other rape victim has to set herself ablaze to get noticed".
The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, has taken up the case, and has summoned the local police chief, according to reports.
The Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, has ordered an inquiry.
It's sad that it takes something as horrific as self-immolation to make Pakistanis realize that rape is just wrong. Let's hope and pray that they will get serious about prosecuting rapists from the cop on the street to the Chief Justice.
Officers say they have detained a man, a security guard who was living in a vacant house in the same neighbourhood.
They say he has confessed to the crime and has said he lured the girl to the house where he tried to rape her, during which she died.
A medical report into the incident is still being prepared.
The Express Tribune newspaper reports that the girl went missing and was found an hour later.
 |
| 18 year old set herself on fire and died the next day |
Officials said 18-year-old Amina Bibi self-immolated outside a police station in the district of Muzaffargarh.
She had accused officers of failing to investigate properly claims that she was sexually assaulted by several men on the way to college in January.
Correspondents say rape cases are rarely prosecuted in Pakistan.
Women who complain are often stigmatised, but it is rare for alleged sexual abuse victims to take such desperate measures, says the BBC's World Service's South Asia editor Anbarasan Ethirajan.
The incident has caused outrage in Pakistan, particularly on social media, our correspondent adds.
Ms Bibi had complained that she was attacked by several men. The main suspect was initially arrested, and freed on bail, officials say. The other men allegedly involved were never identified.
But police dropped charges against the main accused on Thursday, saying there was not enough evidence.
When she heard this, Ms Bibi went to the police station in the Muzaffargarh district in southern Punjab to lodge a protest.
Later she doused her clothes in petrol and set herself on fire outside the police station.
"She was already depressed after going through the trauma, but after the release of the accused, she lost all hope of getting justice and set herself on fire," her brother Ghulam Shabir told Reuters.
He said his sister had been kidnapped in January and the attackers had tried to rape her.
Pakistan's independent Human Rights Commission has condemned the incident.
In a statement the organisation said it hoped the government would "immediately launch practical measures to ensure that no other rape victim has to set herself ablaze to get noticed".
The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, has taken up the case, and has summoned the local police chief, according to reports.
The Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, has ordered an inquiry.
It's sad that it takes something as horrific as self-immolation to make Pakistanis realize that rape is just wrong. Let's hope and pray that they will get serious about prosecuting rapists from the cop on the street to the Chief Justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment