Cover-Up of a Gang Rape by the Military?

Putting Pakistan on Fire

Let me tell an un-biased truth on the basis of empirical evidence and long personal experience.

It is rare rather extremely rare that a crime like gang-rape is condoned in Pak army. Even rarer still is for it to be encouraged or pardoned. Misdemeanour of this enormity simply doesn’t go unpunished - severely.

Sans celestial reasons, it is totally impossible that an ordinary captain would have shielded in this manner by the army whatever the merit of case might have been. In normal circumstances, a mere accusation would have been more than enough for the top brass to make the rascal weep for the rest of his life. I would rather claim that it is not probable that in analogous circumstances the army would have taken long to take even a brigadier - without extra-ordinary contacts at the top - to task let alone a petty captain.

Taking the pretty junior rank in account, ruling out any reasonable possibility of the captain sitting atop highly confidential information with devastating consequences for the upper strata if revealed, the only explanation left is that this abominable captain is a three-to-four star beta. To put it in colloquial language: for getting your Miranda rights read out on national TV, unprecedented VVIP treatment one must be a son of some senior general, preferably a serving one, and son-in-law of yet another three to four-star officer.

This implies the proud father and the worthy father-in-law working in concert blocking all punitive steps against their evil sapoot and pathetically deflecting the ever-increasing demands for justice. And to save the four-star family in question, the top command is forced to put the entire country on fire.

You know, in normal conditions, despite umpteen shortcomings of the generals, it is highly unlikely that they would have jeopardized the very existence of Pakistan as a nation state and with that their own lucrative fiscal interests. Our generals can be anything but not poor businessmen - by any standard.

I mean, if not patriotism, it is a question of self-interest and self-preservation for them to sort this nasty mess out at the earliest. In the absence of some very compelling reasons generals would have not allowed a captain to further sully the already badly battered image of their institution.

Inconceivable then that not even a single general have thus far resisted the mishandling of the gory incident. So we are stuck for the time being with the disgrace of Sui, which will forever be a stain on the history of Pakistan, like the East Pakistan tragedy, referendums and accountability drives.

At some point the whole shameful tale of this exercise in extreme human degradation must be told. The true face of the main accused, his family lineage and the real reasons behind this massive cover-up must be exposed - NOW.

Hence, I would request all reporters, journalists and readers to dig out the exact bio-data of this captain and make it public. It would be a true jihad fi sabilillah. Anyone who knows something about him and his family must come forward and share it with the nation. If wrong, this theory ought to be refuted by the quarters concerned.

Allah Hafiz

`Officer under investigation`: Lady doctor assault case
By Arshad Sharif
http://www.dawn.com/2005/02/14/nat7.htm

ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: The Director-General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, said on Sunday an army captain accused of criminal assault on a lady doctor in the Sui PPL hospital was ``under investigation``.

In response to question, Gen Sultan did not confirm or deny if Captain Hammad had been taken into ``custody`` or ``arrested``. He said the investigations into the case were made by a Balochistan High Court judge and the officer was ``under investigation``.

Asked if the judge advocate-general (JAG) of the Pakistan Army was conducting investigations, the military spokesperson stuck to his earlier answer that the officer was under investigation by a BHC judge.

Military officials said the movement of the accused officer had been restricted. To arrest or take an officer into custody, a charge sheet has to be given to the accused and it has not been done so far in the case of Captain Hammad, said an official.

However, Captain Hammad was cooperating in the investigations being conducted by a BHC judge, the official said. In a related development, Pakistan Muslim Leauge (Nawaz) information secretary Siddiqul Farooq alleged that the accused captain is son of a serving general of the Pakistan Army.

Asked about the name of the general, the Pakistan Muslim Leauge (Nawaz) spokesperson said he would divulge the name if the army authorities contradicted him that Capt Hammad was not the son of a general.

Earlier on Thursday, the combined opposition had staged a token walkout from the Senate against what it said was a partial report on the Sui assault case by the Senate standing committee on petroleum and natural resources.

The report, titled ``Senate Standing Committee on petroleum and natural resources on the recent incident which occurred at Sui gas field with special reference to version of PPL``, was placed before the Senate prompting opposition senators to question the omission of allegations of criminal assault against the army official.

BNP Senator Sanaullah Baloch alleged that irrespective of the fact that Captain Hammad was involved in the incident or not, Pakistan Army as an institution was using different means to protect him.

He said many national leaders had been put behind bars on mere allegations while an army captain was being protected. The report had observed: ``The PPL management at site was not only incapable but was also misdirected in handling the issue.``

Its sad what has happened.

To an outsider like me it seems that if you are not from the Army, a Mullah or a Fedual Lord, one has to just hope that you dont get victimized.

I feel that the media should have acted with responsibility and not senationalised the incident.

It was not very long ago that a Major of the Army was hanged to death, when he organised the killing of some innocent people, on personal grounds in Hyderabad. So, after the DNA testing, if Hammad and Co are found guilty, I am sure they will be court martialled and punished severely.

So far there is no empirical evidence available. What ever is available is circumstantial and has to be supported with forensic science. So let us avoid making judgements, and make political capital out of it.

Cheerios

#1 by subedar on February 14, 2005 0:30am PT


It is rare rather extremely rare that a crime like gang-rape is condoned in Pak army. Even rarer still is for it to be encouraged or pardoned. Misdemeanour of this enormity simply doesn’t go unpunished - severely.


How many people were punished severely for the rapes in Bangladesh?

I think there is hope that justice will be done. After all, they did hang the army major as ijaz gul points out. Also they hanged the baluch landlord and a couple of others who gang raped the peasant woman last year. But lets keep our fingers crossed and hope that the public outcry continues.

It is interesting that the famous Hadood Laws that have been rightly ridiculed (given their absurd requirement of 4 male witnesses to a rape) are generally ignored in the judicial system. It is Musharaff`s disgrace that despite his military dictatorship he refuses to abolish those laws - that were introduced by another military dictator. Clearly they serve the purpose of intimidating people, which is the ultimate basis for all dictatorships.

Hi

I think they should be hung to death
All are adults and they know what is right and whats wrong
Still being a human if one cant judge on these issues its a shame on their part

Pls hang them thats the only solution

Tahmed, There could be a twist if the hadood is applied as there with be no material witness, and I am not clear how forensic evidence would be applied under Islamic Laws. So lets wait and see. A queer application is that under the HADD, alcohol is punishable but not heroin.
Cheerios

one would like to propose a surgical cure for this crime committed by -- this sorry excuse for a man -- a rapist soldier -- belonging to a Constitution-rapist Army...

...the victim being a physician...

the good lady doctor should be allowed to perform Orchiectomy -- on Capitane Criminale -- without anesthesia -- under full septic conditions -- with a dull kitchen cleaver....on a bath room floor -- to relieve mr. naamurd captain -- of the pair of miseries -- hanging between his legs......anyway

I agree with Subedar (interact 1) when he says ``it is rare rather extremely rare that a crime like gang-rape is condoned in Pak army. Even rarer still is for it to be encouraged or pardoned. Misdemeanour of this enormity simply doesn’t go unpunished - severely.`` As someone has already pointed out, the Tando Bhawal case in which Captain Jameel was sentenced to death and eventually hanged speaks for the Army which is not willing to get its name tarnished by the doings of some Captain or Major. However, I partially disagree when he says that the reasn why the Captain is still not facing a court martial is because he is either the son or son-in-law of a serving three or four star. Sons and sons-in-laws of 3 or 4 star rarely get posted to DSG(Defence Services Guards), a posting that is virtually the bottom in merit. Secondly even if they do get posted to DSG, it is not at a place like Sui. It would be more like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi etc. Unlike Tando Bhawal when not only the Captain was tried by court martial, the General Officer Commanding was also removed from command and consigned to an insignificant post in GHQ. The Army made it a point to bring out its in-built system of accountability in the media with front page stories. In this particular case the Army remains tight lipped. One reason could be that the Army does not want to bactrack on its version, something they had to do in Tando Bhawal case. With the accused officer coming forward voluntarily for DNA test, the case takes an intersting turn. A newspaper report today says that three used condoms were recovered from the site. Interesting, a rapist using condoms.

Under Islamic law rape does not fall under the category of Hadud crime - it is a Tazeer, hence does not require the testimony of four witnesses for conviction. Which means that the judicial system is free to set a criteria as it deems fit to prosecute the rape case. Forensic and circumstancial evidence can be used to prove the case, however, such evidence cannot be used to convict rapist for a Hadd punishment. If prosecution proves that the accused has actually committed the rape then rapist is sentenced with a punishment chosen arbitrarily by the society.

There are, however, two cases when a rapist may be punished with a Hadd punishment:

1. If somehow, four adult male witnesses happened to see the rape or for every male witness two female witnesses saw the rape.

2. If the rapist confesses on his free will and he has been given three opportunities to recant his confession when the consequences of his confessions were fully explained to him.

In these two cases, the rapist is punished with the Hadd punishment which is:

a. If rapist is unmarried, he is beaten with 80 leashes in a public place.

b. If rapist is married, then he is stonned to death in a public place.

If rape was proven without these two conditions, then the degree of punishment should be less severe than Hadud punishment as described in a and b.

Lets admit to the fact that as far as law is concerned, Pakistan is a banana republic. The only law that exists is the law which gives the ruling class powers to control the oppressed class. People have absolutely no confidence in the system of justice, and that is the reason whenever an outrageous situation, like this, arises people take to the streets and rocket launchers. In this particular case, I have absolutely no hope that justice will be served. Unless fauj is serious, it must allow Dr. and her immediate family safe passage to leave country and go to a safe law abiding country like Sweden, Canada or Norway. There must be foreign observers from those countries (definitely not from US and Britain) who will examine the evidence and certify that it hasn`t been corrupted. But then I think about those thousands of women who are just about to be raped in coming few days or those innocent people who are about to be murdered or robberies that are about to happen, the plots that are about to be occupied by fauji qbza group..... and so on so forth. People must realize that Pakistan cannot become a law abiding society as long as the fauj - the ultimate law breaker - is in power. Fauj must be humiliated, defeated, disbanned, and contained in barracks if Pakistanis want to live in peace.

Re: # 10
Why is it interesting that the rapists used condoms. It only makes sense, if you are a rapist. Either your semen if found on the rape victim could convict you or the chance of resulting pregnancy can.
Why does one get the feeling that you think it absurd for a rapist to use condoms?

If I had to face the rape victim I will first give her a hug and then tell her:-

Dear sister,
You live in a country of Bey-Ghairat Men, who cannot even promise you relief from small crimes against women such as eve-teasing so how are they going to get you justice for a much severe crime like rape.
Wipe your tears, and know that your honor is still untainted. In the eyes of God, the rapist and those who cant get you justice lose honor. People of Pakistan lose their honor each time a rape goes unpunished.
You, my sister are simply budnaseeb for being born in a country of NaaMards.
May Allah give you peace, and take retribution from the aggressors in this world and the next.

This case is not related to that individual victim but it is related to the whole feminity of Pakistan, now she is victimized may be tomorrow we r on her place.There is no single remedy of this social problem.Such issues such be put up on national n international level rather than putting them behhind the curtain only because the accused are Pak army`s rats...bullshit.
This is not a single case but there are lot many others which are hidden only bcuz victims r threatened.Such attitude of these peoples especially of Pak army is ruining Pakistan image.Womens should fight for their own dignity n self respect and this can only be done if they r provided wid solid platform to solve their problems.

Har Nari Ka Hai Adhikar,
Milay Samman aur Pyar.

It is the Right of every woman,
that she recieve Respect and Love.

Sanwari Devi in Rajasthan never got her justice. Watch Bawandar!