Police negligence responsible for rising 'suicides' among girls

ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: The negligence of corrupt police is the main cause behind alarming increase in suicide rate among girls in Chitral as the law enforcers willfully bury such cases, fearing spread of sectarian clashes. The incompetent police are still clueless how to deal with such brutal elements who take law into their hands, forcing the girls to take their lives. They come with lame excuses of seatrain clashes instead of making the unscrupulous elements an example for others. In a latest incident of never ending series of girls suicides, reported by Mr Sher Wali Khan Aseer, Safina Bibi, 24, D/o Shahid, a resident of Istar, Torkhow and settled in Chinar village for the last so many years ended her life by taking poison. As usual, the police did not go for investigation of the case on the pretext that it will ignite sectarian violence. These so-called saviors of the nation succumbed to the pressure of clerics and handed over the body to the legal heirs without even an autopsy. What a shame for the police that it did not have the courage to dig out the facts behind the gory incident. According to sources, the girl was under immense pressure from her parents and relatives after tying the knot with one Abdul Qayyum of Brok, Laspur – a boy from Islmaili community – against the consent of her parents. They said that the annoyed parents including relatives of the girl made her life miserable, bypassing unethical, uncivilized and un-Islamic remarks for tying nuptial knot with an Ismaili boy. In the beginning, the parents were in no way in agreement to accept the girl, but after passage of time they weaved a filthy net to bring her back and take revenge. When the girl happily joined her family, they performed the whole nikah process afresh. They also promised the couple a piece of land in Chinar so that they could live a more comfortable life compared to Laspur – an area considered to be a bit backward. But the glorious day of having her own house at the land promised by her parents, never came. A day before leaving this world forever, the girl asked her mother to talk to her father – a laborer working in Peshawar – to show her the promised piece of land but a straight ‘no’ from her father came as a shock to her, compelling her to end the life forever to get rid of their derogatory remarks curses once forever. The level hatred can be judged from the fact that an uncle of the girl, a taxi driver, refused to take her to the nearby hospital when she was found unconscious after taking poison on Feb 11. A sympathetic aunt could not resist the whole scene and arranged another vehicle for taking her to hospital where she was pronounced dead by the doctors – shame on the parents whose ill parenting led them to see the doomsday. When contacted, Sher Zaman, a police spokesman at Police Station Mastuj, negated the incompetence of the department, saying the husband of the girl could not pinpoint the real cause of death. When asked why the police believed on the guy instead of going ahead for proper investigation, he claimed that the leadership of both Sunni and Ismaili communities had intervened and did not allow the police to carry out their routine investigation – what a lame excuse, should this be the duty of police, is million dollar question. According to an eyewitness, her feelingless, cruel, brutal parents along with other well wishers, refused to lay down her dead body in the grave. They said that they have no words to explain the fascist mindset of her relatives as a cleric came forward to lay her dead body in the grave. Can a blood-relative of young girl remain unmoved on witnessing such an untimely death of their young daughter – indeed a mindset no different from hardliner extremist and fanatics elements, who behead innocent people just in the name of religion. When contacted, acting District Police Officer (DPO) Chitral Mir Azam accepted that the police had failed to control the increasing trend of suicide among girls, fearing sectarian violence in the district. “We’re at a cacth-22 position. We’re unable to do anything about such cases…the moment we’ll arrest the father of this particular girl, the clerics will take to the streets, giving it a sectarian colour, creating a law and order situation,” he added. However, when he was reminded that the job of the police is to take action instead of giving lame excuses and bowing down to pressure of handful clerics, he assured that the law will spring into action if both communities agreed to dig out the case. But it is a wild goose chase.]]>