ISLAMABAD: Supporters of the 14 suspects, who have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 16-year-old girl in Abbottabad, here on Friday claimed that all those under the police custody in the case were innocent.

Speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club, they alleged that the mother of the deceased was involved in the murder and that the case was registered against the 14 people due to a political rivalry.

They demanded that the inquiry should be handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) as police had become a party.

Supporters of 14 suspects say they are innocent and framed due to political rivalry

However, the father and an uncle of the deceased told Dawn that they were satisfied with the inquiry and the supporters of the suspects were trying to twist the case.

In the first week of May, the charred body of the girl was found in a burnt vehicle at Donga Gali.

There were rumours that the victim was burnt alive on the decision of a local Jirga. It was also alleged that her mother was behind the murder.

Some people said the girl was mentally disturbed and her death could be an accident. But the body was found tied to the seat of the vehicle.

The father of the deceased worked as a labourer in the ship-breaking industry near Karachi.

Speaking at the press conference, Shahida Rehman, the chairperson of Ababil Human Rights Organisation, said police investigated the mother but declared her innocent.

She said the police had not yet submitted the challan of the case to the court.

She claimed that the suspects belonged to the PPP and Sardar Rajabdad, the uncle of the deceased, was a PML-N leader.

The two groups have an old rivalry, she added.

She said the father of the deceased was in Karachi and had to collect donations to reach Abbottabad but the police recovered Rs300,000 from his house.

“It shows that the mother might have received the money from the killers of the girl,” she alleged, calling upon Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to take notice of the case.

Mohammad Daud, a resident of the village, said Jirgas were held to settle disputes but they never announced punishment against any person.

Another resident, Sardar Mohammad Saleem, said the 14 people were innocent.

But Sardar Rajabdad, the uncle of the deceased, told Dawn: “National and international media showed sympathy with us and have been reporting the case minutely but a woman, who claims to be working for human rights, is trying to save the suspects.” He said the police had found fingerprints of some of the suspects from the house of the deceased and they (suspects) also admitted their involvement in the murder in front of a judge.

The father of deceased told Dawn that though he reached home a few days after the incident, he did not suspect that his wife was involved in the murder.

“My wife told me that in the morning when she woke up the door was found to be unlocked and our daughter not in the house. My wife thought she might have gone to the house of some relative or school. However, after a while, she started looking for her and then her body was recovered,” he said.

“I asked the police if they have recovered Rs300,000 from my house but they denied. We are fully satisfied with the investigation,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2016