LETTER:Fabricated stories of gang-rape
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.From Mr Kamran Shafi
Sir: I refer to your story "Bhutto agonises as Karachi burns" of 26 June and, in particular, to the following sentence:
Soon after, the 16-year-old sister of another Mohajir activist was gang- raped, allegedly by a rival faction with shadowy government ties.
The wording of your report seems to agree with the allegation that gang- rape did indeed take place. The fact of the matter is that it is "alleged" that the rape took place. To explain further:
There is a running feud between the families of the alleged rapists and the complainant because they belong to the two factions of the Mohajir Quami Movement who are slugging it out in Karachi. For two days, the alleged victim's family did not report the alleged rape to the police until the MQM (Altaf Group) press conference in which the matter was made public.
The provincial government of Sindh took immediate action, and the police charged the alleged criminals and arrested six of them. The case will be tried in court and the alleged criminals will be punished should they be found guilty.
On two earlier occasions the MQM (Altaf Group) fabricated stories about gang-rape to incite and inflame the people. On both those occasions the charges were found to be concocted.
As to the alleged criminals' "shadowy government ties", my government abhors violence, particularly that which is directed at women and children, and has nothing whatever to do with either of the factions of the MQM.
Yours sincerely,
Kamran Shafi
Minister
Information Division
High Commission for Pakistan
London, SW1
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments