Officials face action as Islamabad sub-inspector remanded in police custody in children assault case

ISLAMABAD: The station house officer (SHO) of Karachi Company police station was suspended and departmental action initiated against him while the station clerk (Moharrar) was dismissed from service for not entertaining the complaint lodged against a policeman who kidnapped two minors, detained them, tortured them and also raped them, police said on Tuesday.

Besides, the SHO of Shams Colony police station was also suspended, but within hours he was reinstated, police officials told Dawn, adding that the children were illegally detained at Shams Colony police station and sexually assaulted there.

The SHO and station clerk of Shams Colony failed to check the illegal detention and sexual assault on the premises of the police station, officials said, adding that the SHO and station clerk of Karachi Company police station also did not entertain the complaint of the children’s father.

The supervision of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Margalla and SP Saddar (supervisory officer of Karachi Company police station) and SDPO Sabzi Mandi and SP Industrial Area (supervisory officer of Shams Colony police station) was also questioned as they failed to keep an eye on the refusal of police to entertain the complaint and take action against the illegal activities taking place inside a police installation.

The father of the children informed the police on their helpline on Sept 15 and later lodged a complaint with Karachi Company police station on Sept 18 after he found his children in Edhi Home.

However, the SHO and station clerk did not entertain the complaint and deliberately avoided taking due action.

The family then made a video about the incident and uploaded it on social media platforms, which caught the attention of police officers, the officials said, adding that the father also approached a senior officer and complained about the police for not entertaining his complaint.

In response, DIG Syed Ali Raza conducted an inquiry and found the policeman and SHO Karachi Company guilty. Under his directives, the police registered a case against the policeman — sub-inspector (SI) — and immediately sealed the FIR.

The officials, quoting the FIR, said the complainant – father of the children – was at Pims with his younger eight-year-old son who was admitted there. Since his wife had died, he also brought his two other children with him to the hospital.

On the evening of Sept 15, the two older children left for a nearby canteen to buy juice but did not return, the FIR said, adding that the complainant searched for them but failed to trace their whereabouts. He later informed the police on their helpline about their disappearance.

The FIR further said that on Sept 18, he found his two children at Edhi Home who told him that the SI had kidnapped them from Pims and took them to Shams Colony police station in a car.

The FIR said the SI sexually assaulted them and detained them in the police station for a day and night, adding that later he took them to a dera at Golra Mor where he assaulted them again.

He committed the act once again in a ground where a police vehicle spotted him. He then took the children to Edhi Home and handed them over to its workers. After getting information about his children, the complainant reached there, the FIR said.

The officials said after the arrest, the SI was produced in the court of judicial magistrate West Islamabad Shahzad Khan where a request for physical remand for a period of seven days was made. In response the magistrate gave the custody of the SI to the police for four days to conduct investigation and collect evidence. He also asked the police to produce him on Sept 28.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024