By Shahzad Malik
ISLAMABAD: Thirty-seven abduction and rape cases and 41 murder cases were registered in Rawalpindi and Islamabad police stations during August and in the first week of September. Police sources told Daily Times that 16 rape cases were lodged in Islamabad police stations and that “influential people” kidnapped and raped women in most of the cases. Four out of the 16 cases were from urban areas and the rest from rural areas. Sources said that police failed to find the rape victims in several cases.
“Parents file kidnapping and rape cases in police stations when they find their daughters missing, however, after the police’s inquiry, it is generally revealed that the girls had eloped, but still parents insist on lodging a kidnap and rape case,” a police officer, requesting anonymity, told Daily Times. He said that many “abducted” girls returned home after getting married. Sometimes, people also lodge such cases to settle “matrimonial disputes”, he said. Sources said that majority of kidnap and rape cases reported in Rawalpindi had taken place in urbane areas and although, the affected families had requested police to help find their daughters, the police took no action. Sources said that police had not taken the rape cases seriously, as a result of which most of them were still unsolved.
The leading cause in the 41 murders reported in Rawalpindi and Islamabad during last month were monitory and family disputes, according to reports. Sources said that police had failed to arrest most of the nominated accused in the case. Sources said that the murder of Ghulam Abbas, a retired wing commander of the Pakistan Air Force, and his wife, could not be solved because police was reluctant to question most of the people connected with murders. Thirteen out of the 41 cases were reported form Islamabad. Over 20 people also died in road accidents in the past month. In addition, 55 robberies were reported during the same period and 14 of them were in Islamabad. Sources said that 59 cars were stolen and the police could not recover any of them.
Source: Daily Times
Date:9/14/2006
