IGP Punjab directed to produce police rape victim

ISLAMABAD: A suo motu case of 2005 about infamous Sonia Naz rape case, on Wednesday once again resounded in the the Supreme Court.

The Court ordered the Inspector General of Police Punjab to produce the police rape victim on March 30 to determine whether justice had been done to her or still she was facing high-handedness of the police force.

The three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry issued the directive after the District Police Officer Faisalabad failed to respond clearly to queries about Sonia Naz's whereabouts.

During course of proceedings, the Chief Justice expressed his apprehension that Sona might have been killed as the accused inspector Jamshed Chishti was still in police service.

"How she could come to court when your force brutally tortured the women," he told the DPO Faisalabad.

The Chief Justice asked the Punjab Additional Prosecutor General to read out an investigation report compiled by the police inquiry team led by DIG Zafar Qureshi which found allegations of Sonia's rape against accused late SP Khalid Abdullah and Inspector Jamshed Chishti as substantial and recommended a comprehensive probe against the accused after the registration of an FIR.

The 300-page report said that evidences produced by Sonia to substantiate the charge of rape were powerful and convincing.

The report said 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 of her husband Asim Yousuf.

It was reported that he had taken Rs 1.4 million as bribe from the family of Sonia in exchange of Asim's freedom. 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 had 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.

The judicial inquiry report had also found SP Abdullah Khalid and Inspector Jamshed Chishti guilty as charged.

The Chief Justice questioned what happened with the fate of report and opined that it must have been closed which spoke volumes about the descipline of police force.

The DPO Faisalabad to a bench's query replied that according to his investigation, the case had been registered in Lahore and Sonia was occasionally seen in Faisalabad.

He said that he was informed that the victim was working with some NGO but the veracity of reports had to be determined.

According to media reports on May 3, 2005, late SP Khalid Abdullah and Inspector Jamshed Chishti had abducted Sonia Naz from her home in Johar Town and raped her.

The accused were arrested in October, 2005 after Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, took suo motu notice of the case, directing the police to arrest the accused. (APP)