Police claim Amna was never raped

LAHORE: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday rejected a police report on a Class 10th student Amna Bibi’s self-immolation case and directed the district and sessions judge to probe the incident and furnish a comprehensive report within six weeks.

Police claimed that 18-year-old Amna was never raped and alleged that she concocted the story to implicate her family’s opponents.The bench, led by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, was hearing a suo moto notice case of Amna Bibi’s self-immolation attempt in Muzaffargarh. As the hearing started, Additional Inspector General of Punjab Police, Khaliq Dad Malik, presented the police report, stating that Amna Bibi was not subjected to rape.

Expressing displeasure over the police report, the chief justice remarked how a girl could set herself on fire only to settle scores with her family’s opponents. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed that the police usually declared the culprits innocent in such cases to show its performance. “Police can say that neither any girl was there by the name of Amna nor any such incident had taken place,” he observed.

Chief Justice Jillani called Nizam Bibi, the mother of Amna Bibi, to rostrum and expressed his deep regret over the incident in the Seraiki language, saying that those who had subjected the girl to the brutal act would not escape the grip of law.

Last month, the alleged rape victim had attempted self-immolation outside a police station in the presence of her younger brother after a police report helped the accused to secure bail.After hearing the arguments, the court disposed of the suo moto notice and directed the Multan sessions judge to submit the report within six weeks.