Kainat Soomro protests with slain brother’s body

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI: Alleged rape survivor Kainat Soomro and her family held a protest outside the Karachi Press Club with the body of Sabir Soomro, Kainat’s elder brother.

Sabir was murdered and his body was found on Saturday in a remote village of Naal near Khuzdar in Balochistan.

In March 2010, 23-year-old Sabir Soomro mysteriously went missing from the court’s premises in Mehar town in Dadu district when he was going to attend the hearing of his sister’s gang-rape case. The family alleged that the culprits, who were involved in the gang rape, kidnapped him with the help of Dadu police to pressurise them into withdrawing the case. They brought the body to Karachi where Kainat and her family have been living since three years.

Kainat was allegedly kidnapped in 2007 when she was 13 years old and gang raped.

She moved to Karachi with her family after she claimed she received threats from the culprits involved in the case.

A sessions court in Karachi had acquitted all four accused men - Ahsan Thebo, Sha’aban Sheikh, Roshan Thebo and Kaleemullah Thebo - in the gang rape case last month.

“My brother was very bold and despite threats, he was pursuing my case in my home town Mehar where the influential culprits are living,” Kainat told the media at the Karachi Press Club. She said when she started her struggle for justice, no one even believed her. “I was a gang raped and seeking justice, but strangely, some people did not even believe me, but now after my brother’s murder, they will believe the men who gang raped me also kidnapped and killed my brother,” she said.

Adviser to Sindh chief minister Waqas Malik arrived at the press club and spoke with the family. After the family agreed to have a postmortem conducted, the body was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center. After the medical formalities were completed, the family again brought the body back to the press club and later tried to take it to the Governor’s House to record their protest, but police restrained them from doing so.

“We are very afraid since the culprits are continuously threatening us and therefore we cannot go to our village for a funeral... We demand the authorities to provide us security, so go to our village,” said Ghulam Nabi Soomro, Kainat’s father.

MNA Marvi Memon also arrived at the press club and contacted Rehman Malik, who directed the Karachi CCPO to meet the family and provide them security. The CCPO also arrived at the spot and provided the family with vehicles and police security following which they departed for their village for the funeral.

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