Sunday, April 09, 2006

Sonia Naz – Continuing Tragedy – April 2005


It’s been several months since I last blogged on the appalling misfortunes of the police rape victim Sonia Naz.

Unfortunately the news keeps getting from bad to calamitous. The latest horror news is that she got beaten to a pulp and is currently in a critical condition at a hospital.

The
Paktribune informs us:

Sonia’s brother-in-law Amir who works in Lahore police broke into Sonia’s house and picked two of her kids when Sonia’s sisters came to rescue the children Amir physically tortured the two ladies and took the children along with him.

Later on the relatives helped Sonia get back her children, it was told.

When Sonia went to her former mother-in-laws house Amir and his six brothers beat her badly.

She was reported to have sustained serious head injuries.

Sonia Naz was rushed to a government hospital where doctors are reportedly trying to save her life.


One fact that glaringly stands out is that her brother-in-law who administered the beating is a policeman from Lahore.

In November last year her alleged rapists, Police Superintendent Khalid Abdullah (who enjoys the vilest of reputations) and his sidekick Inspector Jamshed Chishti were released on bail
on the orders of an additional district and sessions judge Lahore - Choudhry Khaliq-uz-zaman.

A terrified Sonia Naz quickly petitioned the Lahore High Court requesting that the grant of bail be terminated as she felt “a danger” to her life from them. Her lawyer Asma Jehangir requested the Lahore police chief to provide Sonia Naz with police protection but her request was declined.

In an
interview last December

Sonia wondered aloud if it was worth pursuing justice at all. "Where should I go and seek justice. If one endures such strife even after the support of the Supreme Court and media, then what is the use of fighting for justice".

In a poignant last note, Sonia feared it might be last time she could manage to let the people know what she had undergone and what was coming as "I might be killed anytime now, with my tormentors on the loose".


The tragedy of Sonia Naz can be directly laid at the Punjab chief minister Pervez Elahi’s doorstep (see: The Glasshouse - Sonia Naz : A Victim of Grubby Punjab Politics? )

A pox on him for being involved in such a squalid piece of injustice.

_____________________________________________

My previous Blogs on Sonia Naz:
The Glasshouse - “I Was Raped on Police Officer’s Orders” (Part I)
The Glasshouse - Sonia Naz: Rape Case (Part II) - The Background
The Glasshouse - Sonia Naz: Rape Case (Part III) - Subsequent Events
The Glasshouse - Sonia Naz - Rape Case (Part IV) – September 2005
The Glasshouse - A Sonia Naz Update - 26th September
The Glasshouse - Sonia Naz - Rape Case (Part V) - November 2005 Update
The Glasshouse - Sonia Naz : A Victim of Grubby Punjab Politics?


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What has happened to Sonia Naz is truly sad but what disgusts me the most is the way the matter was handled by law enforcing agencies. Is Pakistan run by these disgusting men who seem to have assumed the role of God? I truly pray and hope to God that they are, in this world, punished for their crimes and I hope their lives become living hells.
I hope and pray to God that Sonia Naz finds justice, but until Pakistan is run by the like of those who like to run it based on a caste system, it is unlikely yet I pray for the contrary.