A polio worker testified before a Jacobabad court on Friday that she was raped while on duty, after medical reports suggested that the crime potentially did take place.
Jacobabad Deputy Commissioner Zahoor Murri also confirmed that the polio worker was allegedly raped on Wednesday in a nearby village. The DC added that police arrived at the scene of the incident and transferred the victim to a hospital under tight security, where a medicolegal examination was conducted.
A day after the incident, the victim told the media that she was robbed of her phone and valuables. At the same time, she dismissed allegations of sexual assault.
She asserted that when she was returning home after administering polio drops to children at the last house on her list when a man robbed her of her mobile phone and money at gunpoint and escaped. “I was so traumatised and my heart was beating so fast that my team leader immediately took me to Jacobabad Institute of Medical Science,” she had said.
However, on Friday, Jacobabad District and Sessions Judge Syed Sharafuddin Shah presided over a hearing where the victim retracted her old statement and testified that she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint three days ago while she was on duty in the village.
She also appealed to the judge to allow her to go to her parents’ home, whereupon the court ordered the police to escort her there.
A District Health Officer report submitted in the court also suggested that the polio worker “might have been sexually assaulted”.
On the other hand, the court rejected the police report submitted by the local police, observing that it was incomplete. The judge ordered the police to submit a complete report by the next hearing on September 23.
The court ordered the police to submit a “transparent” report “on [the] basis of ocular and medical evidence”.
Additionally, the DHO was ordered to submit five years’ worth of records for the polio worker before the court adjourned until the next hearing on September 23.
After the hearing, the victim’s lawyers held a press conference where they alleged that the police wanted to “spoil the case as they had submitted an incomplete report before the court”.
The lawyers also alleged that the polio worker had been pressured to give a different statement while in police custody, adding that influential people wanted to protect the suspect as he belonged to the powerful Jakhrani clan.
On the other hand, local police stated that they ensured the safety of the victim and confirmed that the polio worker was assaulted but she could not give a statement as she was traumatized by the incident.
