LAHORE: Sumbal, the child who was found abandoned after being assaulted sexually near the gate of Lahore’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital five years ago, is a student of class-II at a government-run school here.
Her father spoke to The Nation and demanded arrest of the criminals involved in child rape and murder cases in Pakistan as country’s top court began hearing a suo motu case on the horrific rape and killing of Zainab in Kasur district of the Punjab province.
“Now, she goes to a nearby Government Girls Primary School,” Sumbal’s father says. “She had to suffer a lot for several months (after the brutal assault). It was very different for us to face and handle her. It took us a lot of time to bring her to normal life.”
The 50-year-old man who works as a driver at a government department in Lahore agreed to speak on the latest rape case at a place of his choice and requested his name and address not to be revealed.
“She could not forget (the agony and pain) for months (even when she was discharged from the hospital),” he recalled.
“We don’t discuss anything (about the past) before her. We remain very careful.”
Now, Sumbal plays with her five sisters and four brothers inside the boundary wall of her small house after the school.
“The (law and order) situation is worsening and anything can take place anywhere. So, we must not let our children leave homes,” her father said.
In September 2013, a watchman had found the girl lying unconscious with blood stains on her clothes near the entrance of the Ganga Ram Hospital. Doctors who examined the victim confirmed that she had been raped repeatedly for more than an hour.
This case child rape case had also brought international condemnations and made headlines across the world media. The then Chief Justice of Pakistan while taking notice of the brutal assault had sought a report from the chief of the Punjab Police.
During the last five years, several joint investigations were formed, thousands of people were interrogated, and hundreds of DNA samples were examined but the rapist is still at large.
Sumbal’s father, when asked about arrest of the rapist, said that the rapist was not arrested by police yet.
About the Sumbal rape case he said, “It was written in our fortune. We don’t blame anybody. What can we do? We just can offer prayers before God. In her early morning prayers, my mother curses the child rapists and killers. God will capture and punish them,” he said with sobbing eyes.
While commenting on the latest case of child rape and murder in Punjab, the father said that the criminal must be brought to justice in Zainab murder case although police failed to arrest the rapist of her daughter Sumbal.
He said the serial killer must be arrested and all criminals involved in child rape and murder cases should be given rare punishment. “They should be arrested and thrown before dogs or they should be cut into pieces with knives. They should not be hanged or shot dead by police simply,” he demanded.
Sumbal was playing with her three-year-old cousin Ahmad Yar in a nearby street when both the children were abducted by unidentified men. Sumbal was found unconscious in Ganga Ram hospital in the night and her cousin was found at a child protection unit the next morning.
“Ahmad goes to a local madrassa (a religious school),” the father of Sumbal said. “We don’t need elite schools. We are quite happy. We are satisfied.”
When asked whether the authorities did anything for Psychotherapy or mental rehabilitation of the child after her medical treatment, he said, “The government provided us a lot of help. Hamza Sahib had visited the hospital and handed over to me a cheque of Rs 500,000.” The medical treatment was also free of cost, he said.
Again when asked about the government’s efforts, if any, for the education and brain therapy of the victim, the man who is also a government employee said that the parents should take care and supervise their children. “This is the responsibility of the parents, first.”
However, he said that it is very difficult for parents to keep children under supervision all the time. “We also have to leave for work. We have to do a lot a job. What parents can do?” he asked.
A senior police investigator who also spoke to The Nation on the subject and preferred his name not to be mentioned said that the CIA police had interrogated more than 5,000 suspects in connection with the Sumbal rape case. “But to no avail.”
Sumbal’s family had to face the worst situation after the police rounded up hundreds of suspects during non-stop raids in the same locality. The more the news media flashed police failure in Sumbal case, the harder the police hit the people in the name of interrogation.
“At one stage, local residents took to streets to condemn police brutalities. The raids sparked anti-police protests as protesters started blocking busy roads,” said the police officer who also examined the Sumbal case “voluntarily.”
“We made all out efforts and no stone was left unturned. Some 5000 people were interrogated and hundreds of DNA tests were conducted after short-listing of the Voters Lists and NADRA record,” he said.
When asked whether police will be able to arrest the culprit in Zainab murder case, the officer said that it would be “luck” if the case is traced. Both the kids four-year-old Sumbal and seven year-old Zainab were sodomized by criminals, police investigations have revealed.
“The police have two things in hand, DNA sample and CCTV footage. And, nothing else,” he added. “In Sumbal case, the police had also recorded statement of the victim. The child told the police that she was taken to upstairs at a small house in narrow streets. There was an ice-cream shop at the house where she was taken.” But police could not trace the rapist.
So, this case is very complicated. “We don’t have equipment for facial-match. There is no DNA database available in Pakistan. If you have DNA sample of the criminal or a video clip then where we can match it,” the officer questioned. “We don’t have video face-matching facility here. NADRA has a database but it becomes very difficult to identify the suspect if the camera result is poor.”
According to him, thousands of CCTV cameras being installed in Punjab as part of the multi-billion Safe City Project will be useless since the authorities lack facial-match facility. “What investigators are doing (in Zainab case)? They are trying manual matching. They are asking people to identify the suspect instead of doing this electronically,” he pointed out.
He went on to say, “Child rape and murder cases are not among police priorities. The police don’t have record or database with regard to such cases. Robberies, vehicle lifting, and fraud cases are discussed in crime meetings and police officers never ask investigators about the follow ups on child rape and mueder cases.”
The officer also expressed dissatisfaction over the police investigation into Zainab case and said that the police made some blunders. “Why police did not conduct “grid search” on the very first day of the happening?” he asked.
The officer also suggested that some other aspects of Zainab murder case would have been investigated immediately. “Do the police know the place where the girl was raped? Do the police know the exact time of rape and her death? Do the police know the time duration between her reported missing and discovery of the body?” He said that the Zainab murder case is more complicated than the Sumbal rape case.
Leading Consultant Psychologist Dr Imran Javed Ghouri says that trauma management for victims of child rape is more important than the medical treatment. “Mental rehabilitation is a long process. The parents, due to poverty and lack of education, avoid such therapy. The sexual assault destroys the future career of the children”
Sumbal’s father says his daughter has forgotten the past but Dr Ghouri, the former Consultant Psychologist at the Lahore’s Camp Jail, says the assaulted children never forget the crime in their life. “Therefore, they need proper brain rehabilitation by experts.”
“We have seen 20 percent of the total drug addicts were victims of child abuse. The victims of child abuse become drug addicts when they grow up because they feel the guilt. And some of the victims go into isolation. The sex assaults triggered suicidal thoughts in some of the children as they reached the age of maturity.”
To a question, Dr Ghouri said that porn clips are one of the major reasons when it comes to the criminals involved in child abuse cases. “Porn videos are being sold in flash drives and openly in major cities. If you go to Kasur, you can see a large number of stalls selling porn videos at bus stands and outside shopping stores.”
“Child abuse destroys the life of the victims in one way or the other. The victims should not be left at the mercy circumstances and they should be helped in mental recovery,” Dr Ghouri said.