PUMHS harassment: SHC takes suo motu notice of Parveen Rind case

• Court summons DIG Shaheed Benazirabad, SSP, deputy commissioner and university registrar to next hearing.
• Seeks separate reports from all officers.
• Parveen Rind refuses to appear before investigation team.

NAWABSHAH: The Sindh High Court (SHC) chief justice on Saturday took suo motu notice of the alleged sexual harassment and murder attempt incident against nursing house officer Parveen Rind of the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women (PUMHS), Geo News reported.

The court summoned Shaheed Benazirabad deputy inspector general of police (DIG), senior superintendent of police (SSP), deputy commissioner and university's registrar to the next hearing on February 15, seeking individual reports on the matter.

It also directed the relevant District and Sessions Court judge to submit a separate report on the incident.

Victim refuses to appear before investigation team

However, Parveen Rind has expressed distrust in the investigation team formed by the health department and refused to appear before it.

Talking to Geo News, Rind reiterated her allegations, saying that the university's vice chancellor and wardens harassed and beat her and threatened to hang her if she raised her voice against them.

Meanwhile, Porihiyat Mozahimat Tahreek, expressing solidarity with Parveen, staged a protest rally and demanded an impartial investigation into the incident.

Moreover, the police couldn't make any progress in the arrest of the accused university director. They said they have been conducting raids to catch Rajpout. However, two lady wardens have been suspended. 

Nursing house officer protests against harassment

Parveen — along with the civil society members — staged a sit-in outside the Nawabshah Press Club on Thursday, protesting against three officials of PUMHS in Nawabshah for allegedly harassing and trying to kill her.

Parveen Rind case

Earlier, Rind had accused three officials of the PUMHS tried to kill her when she refused to accept their "unethical demands", claiming that some other MBBS students were killed for refusing their advances, according to The News.

Parveen Rind, a resident of Dadu district doing house job at the nursing section of the medical university, alleged that the three officials thrashed her in her hostel room. She also showed torture marks on her arms, alleging she was forced to follow unethical orders. She said that they attempted to kill her like other girls before her. 

She said they also tried to snatch her mobile phone to blackmail her. She accused Vice Chancellor Dr Gulshan Memon of involvement in the crime as he ignored her complaints. Rind further said she neither trusts the inquiry committee formed by the VC, nor has any confidence in the committee formed by the SSP, adding she went to the police stations who did not register FIR against three officials, including director hostels Ghulam Mustafa Rajpout, hostel wardens Farheen and Atifa. 

She appealed to chief justices of Supreme Court and SHC to take notice of her appeals and ensure she was served with justice.