Injured by aunt & uncle, doctors confirm six-year-old girl was also sexually assaulted in Karachi

A medical examination of the six-year-old girl, who was allegedly abused by her custodians – her aunt and uncle, was also sexually assaulted.

Initial findings listed in the girl’s medico-legal exam found that the girl was subjected to horrific sexual torture and physical mutilation.

Moreover, the medical report suggested that the victim underwent severe psychological trauma.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that the victim is currently receiving treatment after her examination was completed.

She added that DNA samples have been collected from the victim and have been dispatched to a forensic lab for further processes.

READ: Man, wife allegedly tortures six-year-old niece in Karachi

The mother of six-year-old girl had stated that three years ago, she had given the girl to her brother’s family to raise. It was not immediately clear whether the girl’s maternal aunt and uncle were also her legal guardians.

The woman had alleged that her brother had abused her daughter along with his friend. That she may have been sexually assaulted was also suggested, the girl’s mother claimed.

However, the Shah Lateef Police Station decided to first register an FIR and then refer the victim to the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center for a medico-legal examination.

Moreover, the police failed to formally present the victim before a female medico-legal officer to ascertain whether the victim had undergone alleged sexual assault and torture.

In the FIR, the child’s other maternal uncle Abdul Razzaq claimed that three years ago his sister Alina*, wife of Allah Dino* gave their three-year-old daughter to their brother Salman to raise her.

A few days ago, Alina* – who lives in Larkana – received a call from Salman that her daughter was unwell. When she arrived at Salman’s residence on October 28, the child told her that her uncle, along with his wife Samreen and another man – whom she identified as Ghaffar – had injured her with a knife and thrown hot water on her, scalding her.

The child’s mother decided to file a case against her brother and a case was subsequently registered against Salman at the Shah Lateef Town Police Station. It includes section 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code (attempt to commit murder), Section 337 (inflicting injury), and Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

What will happen next?

According to Pakistan’s criminal justice system, two FIRs cannot be registered for a crime or a sequence of criminal acts between a suspect and a victim.

In this particular case, the FIR registered does not include sections pertaining to sexual assault at the moment.

The option police now has is to only present the medic-legal reports before the court and inform it about the sexual assault as ascertained by the medico-legal team.

Moreover, the police can appeal to the court to add sections of sexual assault in the case. If the court directs it, sections pertaining to sexual assault will be included in the FIR.

After adding the sexual assault sections in the FIR, the police will continue its probe along those lines and present a charge sheet before the court.

The court will then proceed with the case by taking the charge sheet into consideration.