Khawaja Saad demands 'immediate justice' for Barkhan victims
Pakistan
Khetran's arrest and recovery of victims not enough
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique on Friday said the recovery of Barkhan abductees and the arrest of Balochistan Minister for Construction and Communications Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran in connection with their murders were not enough as justice for the victims of the Barkhan incident.
Earlier, six family members of Khan Muhammad Marri including his wife Giran Naz, daughter Farzana and four sons, Imran, Abdul Hameed, Ghaffar, and Sattar, who were abducted from Balochistan’s Barkhan district, had been rescued by the security forces. Khetran had been accused of putting them in his ‘self-made jail’ and inflicting torture and sexual abuse on them resulting in the presumed deaths of two of Marri’s sons and his wife.
Taking to Twitter, Mr Rafique wrote, “The state should have sprung into action against the powerful murderer in time as the culprit and his accomplices deserve daily court hearings followed by an immediate verdict”.
— Khawaja Saad Rafique (@KhSaad_Rafique) February 24, 2023
Giran Naz's husband Khan Muhammad Marri had, earlier, accused Khetran of forcing him into testifying against the minister's son Inam Shah. His statement came in the wake of claims on the media that Khetran's son Inam Shah had conspired against his father to topple him out of government.
He said he was the minister's servant and only Khetran was behind the incident adding that Khetran had three private jails which imprisoned children, women, and the elderly. "I had escaped his jail but he killed two of my sons", he added. He came to know, he said, that security forces had recovered members of his family but the girl was unidentifiable, so she could be anyone's daughter.
It is relative to mention here that the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had demanded Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo remove the minister from his post on account of the gruesome murders and warned of a no-confidence motion against him if he did not take the action.
