4 suspects rearrested in Fatima murder case

Four suspects in the 10-year-old Fatima case have been rearrested after a short release on Sunday.

The suspects included SHO Ameer Chang; two doctors Dr. Fateh Memon and Dr. Ali Hasan Wasan and hospital worker Imtiaz Meerasi.

According to Investigation Officer, Qazi Bachal, they were released on evidence of their innocence. However, they are still under investigation.

The four were accused of concealing facts, concealing crime and neglect of duties.

Samaa news reports that no suspect was produced in court and that they were free without any investigation allegedly due to political pressure.

Additionally, on Saturday, Judicial Magistrate Khairpur extended the physical remand of Pir Asad Shah, the main suspect in the Fatima murder case, by three days.

Previously

Pir Asad Shah, the main suspect in the Fatima murder case at Ranipur Haveli in Khairpur, was being facilitated by a local SHO of police to remain in contact with his mureeds [followers], geo.tv has reported.

Earlier, DIG Sukkur Javed Jaskani had said in a conversation with Geo News that the police will not accommodate any pressure in the case.

The seven days long bail period of Hina Shah, another suspect in the case, has also ended.

Pir Asad Shah is the main suspect in the killing of 10-year-old Fatima who was found dead at the Haveli. The child, who was working as a domestic servant at the Haveli, was hastily buried. However, subsequent exhumation and autopsy revealed that Fatima had multiple injuries over her body, and had been raped vaginally and anally.

More cases linked to Ranipur Haveli

Recently, National Commission for Human Rights tweeted that four children, along with their mothers, have been rescued from Ranipur Haveli in Khairpur, where they had been working.

However, more troubling details emerged from the Haveli where 10-year-old Fatima was previously found dead.

A 20-year-old girl named Sana has reportedly gone missing from the Haveli.

She was a resident of Meena village in Qamber. According to Geo, Sana’s father Deedar Gurhmani said that he sent his daughter to the haveli of Pir of Ranipur Syed Sohail Ahmed Shah, one and a half years ago, “for trust and protection until his problems were resolved”.

It was about a month ago that Shah called him to tell that Sana had disappeared. When Gurhmani tried to get more details, Sohail told him off.

While the family still does not know about her whereabouts, the parents claim that the police have still not lodged a complaint regarding the girl’s disappearance despite their insistence.

They also appealed to higher authorities to help find their daughter.

Sindh caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retired) Maqbool Baqar has taken notice of the incident and has directed the Sukkur divisional commissioner and DIG to ensure the safe recovery of the missing girl.

Previously, Fatima’s mother stated that her daughter had been burned with hot iron, had her hair pulled out, and was also sexually assaulted.

As reported by Samaa news, Fatima’s mother has claimed that hundreds of teenage girls are held as maids by the Pir’s family. These girls are the daughters of mureeds, each of whom is supposed to send one girl to ‘serve’ the Pir. They are kept as domestic workers and can meet with their families only if the mureed allows it.

According to a representative of Khairpur Civil Society (KCS), “There are mureeds who willingly entrust their children to Pirs as they view it as an honour,” while others are financially unstable and give their children at the Pir’s service so that they have shelter and food.

The representative, however, says that not all Pirs are like this, “there are good and bad people everywhere”.

However, social activist and a member at Sindh Human Rights Commission, Dr. Aisha Hassan Dharejo, tweeted the account of two more girls working at the haveli. They, too, have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse.

SP Mir Rohal Khoso responded to the tweets saying that their statements have been recorded “so that the element of torture in this particular case may be evident and the case be stronger, to ensure conviction”.

Fatima’s case

10-year-old child named Fatima Phuriro has been found dead under suspicious circumstances in Ranipur city, District Khairpur.

The child had been working as a domestic worker at a haveli owned by an influential local, Pir Asad Shah Jilani.

Fatima’s mother, Shabana, was informed about the death by the employer who asked her to remove the body from the premises where two of Fatima’s sisters are also employed.

According to DIG Sukkur Javed Jiskani, the parents initially did not share the facts of the case with the police and claimed that the girl was suffering from gastroenteritis. While her diagnosis was also confirmed by Dr Abdul Fatah Memon who treated her, the DIG revealed that Fatima was taken to the hospital either by the Pir or his staff and that the SHO was present at the time she was pronounced dead.

It was not until videos of torture were leaked by an unknown source and circulated in social media that the case caught media’s eye. By then, the family had buried Fatima on August 15.

As per police sources, CCTV footage from the house’s bedroom also revealed Fatima in a troubling state. In the video, the child can be seen lying on the ground. She tries to get up, then gets agitated, before collapsing. A woman later enters the room with another minor maid. They both try to wake the girl up. When they fail to do so, a man gets up from the bed and tries to shake her awake.

Journalist Riyaz Sohail claimsedthat the police had been trying to coerce the relatives to remain silent about the incident.

DSP Qudoos Kalwar met Fatima’s parents and reported the seriousness of the case to the DIG and demanded exhumation of the body. After being taken into confidence, Shabana revealed details to the SSP Khairpur district Rohail Khoso. “The parents were told that if they didn’t disclose facts, police will take action on their own, and they will go for exhumation and lodge a case,” the DIG said.

Moreover, according to Dawn.com, Sindh Director General Health Dr Irshad Memon believes that the doctors’ reports about her examination needed to be verified.

The SSP ordered to conduct a DNA test in case of apprehension of rape.

“My daughter had a fractured arm. She had bruises and some marks — apparently of torture — were there on her body, especially around her neck and belly.”, described Shabana.

According to Geo reports, Shabana claimed that Fatima was subjected to torture for several days and that she died as a result of multiple injuries.

DIG Sukkur formed a team headed by an SSP, and ordered an investigation into the matter. He also ordered to that the body of the child be exhumed to verify the allegations of torture. The investigation team also includes DSP Counterterrorism Department Sukkur Abdul Qudoos Kalwar and ASP Gambat, Noman Siddiqui.

The DIG also suspended SHO Ranipur Ameer Chang.

Furthermore, the police arrested Pir Asad following the registration of an FIR under Sections 302 (qatl-i-amd; premeditated murder) and 34 ( acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the PPC on the Shabana’s complaint.

Asad has denied all charges and said that his family’s name is being tainted. He says that Fatima’s death was caused by a stomach ailment.

As Fatima Phuriro’s case came to the fore, rumours circulated that the alleged murderer, Pir Asad Shah Jilani, is the son-in-law of PPP vice chairman, Syed Fayyaz Shah.

Bakhtawar Bhutto dismissed these rumours while condemning the murder in her latest tweet.

Post-mortem report

Qazi Asif, a Sindh based senior journalist, has on Sunday shared the autopsy report of 10-year-old Fatima who was found dead in suspicious circumstances at the haveli of a pir in Ranipur. Viral footage filmed most likely on CCTV cameras inside one of the bedrooms in the house showed the child collapsing on the ground, after rising up in a distressed state from a makeshift bed on the ground.

A man, purportedly Pir Asad Shah Jelani, a member of the notable Pirs of Ranipur, can allegedly be seen in the video, rising from bed and trying to wake the girl up.

The post mortem examination has confirmed her parents’ fears, revealing that the 10-year-old domestic worker was raped both vaginally and anally. The report also pointed out multiple injuries all over her body.