Handicapped girl’s body desecrated in Gujrat, 12 arrested

An inhumane incident has been reported in Gujarat district of Punjab in which the body of an 18-year-old mentally and physically challenged girl was desecrated allegedly by a group of men after exhuming the corpse from the grave in Chak Kamala village.

The family of the girl registered a case of the incident, whereas, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz took notice of the incident and issued orders to immediately arrest the culprits behind the inhumane incident. Police arrested 12 suspects, whereas, and the body was buried after postmortem.

According to the reports, the 18-year old girl who was mentally and physically ill had died on Wednesday and was laid to rest in a local graveyard. Her family members visited the graveyard on Thursday and found the body lying nearby.

Police have registered a case against unidentified suspects under section 297 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the report of Abdul Khaliq, a maternal uncle of the deceased, and started an investigation, Dawn newspaper reported.

A spokesman for the Gujrat police said a team of forensic experts collected evidence from the crime scene, whereas, DPO Umar Salamat had directed the SP investigation to monitor the case.

The First Information Report (FIR) stated that her niece had passed away on May 4 and was buried in the local graveyard at 6 pm on the same day. On May 5, the family reached the graveyard for Fateha Khawani at 7 am and found the grave open and the body was missing.

After searching the corners of the graveyards, the family members found her shroudless body lying between two paved graves.

Police said the accused may belong to the same village, therefore, the data of all adult males are being obtained.

SHO Zafar Iqbal said that the body has been autopsied from DHQ Hospital Gujrat in which no injuries were found on the body and more specimens were sent to the Punjab Chemical Examiner Lahore for the final report.

The SHO further said that after the completion of postmortem and other legal procedures, the body of the disabled girl was re-buried on Thursday under tight police security.