| What next? Grinding them up, mixing them with garlic and a little olive oil, and eating them on toast? |
The uncle of 19-year-old schoolteacher Rabia Mehboob, who was allegedly abducted, raped and burnt, has filed a private complaint against Kasur Police in the local sessions court for calling the incident a 'suicide'. The police, after several months of the incident passing, said the case was a suicide and decided to register a zina (adultery) case against accused Muhammad Amjad and free the other three accused. However, Rabia's uncle Manzoor Ali said his niece was abducted, raped and burnt by the four accused named in the FIR. A team consisting of representatives of the AGHS Legal Aid Cell and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Daily Times correspondent Ali Waqar visited the area to look into the incident.The AGHS Legal Aid Cell has also followed the case of Farzana Bibi who was allegedly burnt by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. The names of both accused have been mentioned in the FIR. AGHS Legal Aid Cell officials told Daily Times on Sunday that incidents of burning women were gradually rising and that the team had recorded six such cases in the same area in the past five weeks. However, they said that in the cases reported to the AGHS, police was allegedly twisting facts and protecting the accused.