Police nab prime suspect in stripping of Peshawar girl

PESHAWAR: Police on Sunday arrested the prime suspect involved allegedly in stripping naked a minor girl over a dispute.

The suspect was arrested from Mardan, police said.

The incident happened over a dispute between the girl's brother and another man on Wednesday.

Police on Saturday told Geo News that the girl's brother had got into an altercation with Mazhar in Hashtnagri. The former's mother Shakila Bibi and the latter's brother Zafar Ali had visited the Gulfat Hussain Shaheed Police Station to file a complaint.

"We registered the report and sent them to the hospital for medical treatment," SHO Wajid Khan said. "But during the same time, the girl who had left her uncle's house to return home was stopped by Mazhar who then stripped her."

The police officer refuted reports about the girl being paraded naked in the street.

"Area residents came to her rescue almost immediately after they saw what was happening," SHO Khan told Geo News, adding that the accused fled the site of incident.

He further added that the affected party had then visited the police for the second time in the day to report the incident.

"We registered the First Information Report (FIR) and later arrested two relatives of Mazhar. The accused is still at large but raids are under way and he will be arrested soon," the SHO said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IGP) Salahuddin Mehsud also took notice of the incident.

The girl's family has claimed they are being pressured to settle the matter.