Women Democratic Front (WDF) has said it was deeply disturbed and concerned over the suspicious killing of an orphan who had spoken out against the abuse, followed by alleged sexual abuse of minors at Darul Amaan Lahore (Kashana).
In a press release, the WDF said, “We demand an immediate judicial inquiry into the suspicious death of Iqra Kainat, who had revealed that orphans in the shelter are sexually abused by provincial ministers”.
Iqra Kainat was mysteriously found dead at Edhi Centre on February 6 as she was taken to the centre in December last year by Baghban police when she committed suicide by drinking acid.
Former superintendent of Lahore Dar-ul-Aman’s (Kashana) Afshan Latif raised serious concerns over her sudden death. She said her death creates suspicions as she was the only girl who was fully aware of the hidden secrets different welfare organisations.
Ms Latif revealed that Iqra Kainat had been taken away from her residence two months after the emergence of Kashana scandal and on December 16, she had been sent to child protection bureau.
She added that Kainat’s record was deleted a day before sending her to the protection bureau. Kainat grew up in different welfare organisations since her childhood, said Latif.
Kashana, Afshan Latif, has named Punjab Social Welfare Minister Raja Basharat and Minister for Inspection Teams Muhammad Ajmal as being responsible for Kainat’s death.
According to Latif, government officials abducted Kainat, issued a fake death certificate for her when she was in their captivity and then killed her.
In November last year, Latif had said that the orphanage was being used by ministers and other influential individuals to sexually abuse minor girls.
The body formed by the government to investigate the Kashana abuse scandal (Chief Minister’s Inspection Team) gave a clean chit to former provincial Minister for Social Welfare, Ajmal Cheema, in December.
Latif had named Cheema along with Afshan Kiran Imtiaz, the director-general of Kashana, in her complaint to her department. The complaint stated that Imtiaz was pressuring Latif to marry underage girls to high-ranking officials. She said that Cheema was complicit in the offence.
These complaints, followed by the suspicious death of an orphan who had spoken out against sexual abuse at
Kashana, merit an immediate thorough investigation. The WDF thinks that by virtue of its inaction and attempts to cover up the case, the government is inthe final analysis complicit in covering up abuse.
