Islamabad March 2 (TNS): Like other such typical cases in government offices, an inquiry report into the sexual harassment of a 5th grade girl student of Islamabad Model College for Girls (PG), F-10/2 has been swept under the carpet by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) top officials despite the fact that the incident had happened some five to six months back, while the alleged accused — a driver and a gardener (mali) — have walked away scot-free, documents exclusively available with TNS reveal.
According to the documents, on August 8, 2017, the victim, Fatima Asif, a student of IMCG (PG), F-10/2, lodged a complaint with the college principal, accusing driver Muhammad Akbar Khan and mali, Muneeb Khan, of sexually harassing her on the college premises. When the principal summoned Akbar Khan and Muneeb Khan over the episode, they denied the allegations.
Later, the case landed in the FDE and on October 23, Director FDE Saqib Shahab formed a two-member inquiry team comprising Zafar Iqbal Yousufzai and Ammara Awais Niazi, who probed the matter and submitted its report to the regulatory body.
Since then, neither the inquiry report has been made public nor the accused have been punished and the report has almost been hushed-up, sources said. According to the documents, Akbar Khan has been suspended and transferred to IMCB, G-10 and Muneeb Khan has been suspended and transferred to IMCB I-11/3, however, he had fled the college after the inquiry team approached him for his version.
The inquiry committee had quizzed both the accused in the sexual harassment case and had noted down its recommendations, the sources said.
In his statement on an affidavit, Akbar Khan has denied the allegations, refusing to even recognize the victim girl. Akbar Khan, who is under suspension, has appealed to the FDE high-ups to do away with his suspension orders as his retirement was nearing.
The sources also said that the issue and the inquiry report was barely discussed at the official level after the seven-year-old Zainab rape and murder case surfaced in Kasur, however, no punishment was given to the accused despite the fact that almost five months have passed since the episode occurred.
According to the source, the FDE high-ups did not allow the victim girl’s family to report the matter to the police and had assured them to punish the culprits. The victim girl’s father, Asif Mehmood Khan, told TNS that they also attempted to approach CAAD Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry but failed to take up the matter with him, as according to him, the minister never shows up to the CADD Ministry and instead he regularly goes to courts to give company to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in corruption references.
According to the sources, Chaudhry takes the least interest in the CADD and FDE affairs and instead, he shows his regularity in different courts in matters of political nature. His incessant absence from the ministry has taken a toll on the overall education system in Islamabad.
When contacted Saqib Shahab on his office number, he was not available, however, his PA Tariq said that the inquiry has been completed and he was unaware of its further status—--Report by Shafiq Qureshi
