RAWALPINDI: Police have registered a rape case against three people after doctors at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) confirmed the pregnancy of a 27-year-old unmarried deaf and dumb woman.

The police said the woman, a resident of Morgah, was 12-year-old when she was admitted to a vocational training institute and rehabilitation centre run by a former army officer and his nephew. The younger brother of the victim in his complaint stated that since his sister joined the institute at Gulistan Colony, she was provided a pick-and-drop facility by the administration of the institute. A week ago, he added, she complained of a pain in her stomach.

She was taken to the BBH where the doctors told her parents that she was six months pregnant.

He said his sister had earlier tried to explain her ordeal through sign language that about six months ago she was given a glass of juice by one of her colleagues at the institute. After taking the juice, she fell unconscious. She was later driven to the friend’s home by a man in his vehicle.

The woman, who has hearing impairment, claims she was raped at a colleague’s home; doctors confirm pregnancy

The woman also said after she was taken to the house, she was given an injection by an unidentified man who was already present there and after which she was raped. However, the number of accused who raped the woman could not be ascertained.

The victim claimed that she could identify her alleged rapists if they were produced before her.

Her brother said the administration of the institution failed to provide protection to his sister and was now trying to harass him and his family.

“My parents and I were shocked when the doctors disclosed that my sister was pregnant,” her brother told Dawn.

He said his sister used to complain of kidney pain and was examined by different private doctors but none of them disclosed that she was pregnant.

He said after the police refused to register a case against the accused, he sought the help of his area’s local council chairman.

After the intervention of the chairman, the police registered an FIR against the driver of the vehicle (main accused), the owner of the institute and the woman at whose house she was allegedly raped. But the accused are yet to be arrested, he added.

He said the administrator of the institute first tried to pressure the victim’s family by accusing them of kidnapping the driver (one of the accused) but the police registered the case on the intervention of the UC chairman after four days.

When the superintendent of the police, Potohar division, Attiq Tahir, was contacted by Dawn, he said efforts were underway to arrest the accused. The SP said he had ordered the investigating officer to send samples from the woman for laboratory tests.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2016