A Pakistani lady police officer has been dismissed from duty after she was found guilty of coercing a female detainee to strips and dance nude in front of jail inmates in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province. The police inquiry committee in Pakistan looking into the matter discharged Inspector Shabana Irshad from her duties for misusing her authorities.
After the matter had come to notice, Deputy Inspector General Mohammad Azhar Akram had ordered an inquiry against inspector Shabana Irshad and ASP Pari Gul Tareen was appointed to investigate the matter. During the inquiry, ASP Pari Gul found the inspector guilty. In her report, she said that during the investigation in the murder case, the inspector was found guilty of negligence, misconduct, misuse of authority and immoral and non-professional behaviour towards her duty.
The probe found that the inspector forced the accused to remove her dress and to dance to a song. A video of the act was also recorded. The report added that Inspector Shabana Irshad formed her team as per her own choice without any written orders. The inquiry report had recommended major punishment for the officer. The incident happened at the Jinnah Town police station in Quetta.
Accordingly, Inspector Shabana Irshad has been awarded ‘compulsory retirement from police service’ as punishment.
Reacting to the incident, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Quetta, Muhammad Azhar Akram said: “The inquiry found that the lady inspector had arrested and brought a woman to the police station for questioning in connection with the murder of a child in the Jinnah township of Quetta.”
“When the woman was in police remand, lady inspector Shabana not only stripped her naked but also forced her to dance naked in front of others in jail,” he said. “The lady inspector had nothing to say in her defence and she has been retired forcibly from service and dismissed,” Akram said, adding that the victim has now been sent to jail custody by the court.
This cannot be permitted when a female inspector treats another female in this manner and abuses her authority. To protect women detainees even in jail, we have made it essential for them to be questioned only by female inspectors, the DIG added.
Reportedly, earlier five female cops were sacked from jobs in the same case. Bushra Afzal, Huma Faisal, Uzma Nasreen, Farah Khalil and Samina Manzoor were sacked for meting out inhumane treatment to the female accused during custody.
In the month of July, Pakistan’s parliament passed a bill criminalising torture and preventing custodial killings by police or other government officials. The Bill stated that if a public servant, whose duty it is to prevent custodial death and custodial sexual violence either intentionally or negligently fails to do so, he/she will be punished with at least seven years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs. 1 million.
Senator Rehman after approval of the Bill said Pakistan was “finally on [the] way to criminalising torture”.
