Woman in Pakistan alleges rape for giving polio drops to children

Peshawar: A woman health worker today claimed that four men, including two wearing police uniforms, gangraped her for administering anti-polio drops to children in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhunkhwa province but a senior police official dismissed her allegations as false.

Speaking to the media at the Peshawar Press Club here, the woman, a mother of five children, claimed that on August 28, she was gangraped by four men in Bablu Kalay area of Nowshehra district in Khyber Pakhunkhwa.

The victim claimed that four people entered her house wearing masks and raped her at gunpoint with two of the intruders wearing police uniforms while the other two in plain clothes.

Demanding justice from the federal and provincial government, the health worker also showed copy of a First Information Report lodged in Akbarpura police station on August 28.

The woman said a security official, living in a portion of her house as a paying guest, used to warn her of dire consequences if she did not stop administering polio drops to the children.

District Police Officer of Nowshera Wahid Mehmud rejected all the accusations levelled by the woman, saying police performed its duties honestly and in time and initiated investigations as per the offense.

He said the concerned police station had registered the case of the complainant in time, however, she refused her medical examination despite levelling allegations of harassment. The police even registered the harassment case, Mehmud said.

The police chief said the woman was misusing the media and trying to blackmail the police. He said the police has exposed dozens of her fake allegations.

He said an accused nominated by the woman was arrested and after investigations it was found that he was in Rawalpindi at the time of incident.

While another accused is a drug smuggler and has no link with the case, the police official said.