CADET COLLEGE MURREE – RAPE OF CHILD ON GUNPOINT – PRINCIPAL SUPPORTED THE CULPRITS

Tazeen Akhtar

The rape of 7th-class student not at some Madrassah but at a private Cadet College at Company Bagh, Murree has dismantled the so-called standards of the cadet schools colleges and the Parents wonder where to send their children for education. Moreover, the conduct of the Principle of the College has rung the bells of alert as not to trust even the teachers and principles from now on.

On 10 Oct 2022, four culprits Hassan Afridi, Shahnawaz, Taimoor, and Saood entered forcibly into the room of class 7th student (name not shared for privacy). The accused were armed with pistol 30 bore. Saood and Taimoor grabbed the child while Hassan Afridi and Shahnawaz raped him.

The victim brought this crime to the knowledge of Principal Aftab who strictly forbade the student not to share this with anyone. The Principal threatened the victim student of ousting him from college if he shared this incident with anyone. Thus Principal Aftab supported the culprits rather than handing them over to the police.

The student was severely afraid of the culprits. He remained silent after the principal warned him. His father Imran called him on 16 Oct 2022 to ask about his well-being but he was shocked listening to the cries of his child. The father questioned what happened but the student failed to tell his father anything.

The student’s father Imran of Lahore had admitted his son to a better environment and good studies in the cadet college but here he found his son was in some trouble. Imran could not stop him and reached the college the very next day and took his son with him home. Here the son shared the whole story of the nightmare with his father.

Here comes another unfortunate aspect of the dark side of this college. The father Imran registered FIR at Murree Police Station against the 4 culprits. The Police had to face strong confrontation and resistance from the college administration in the way to arrest the culprits. The Principle Aftab and the college owner Abdul Waheed called the men who took 7 Policemen, hostage, for several hours.

It was only then that the DSP and SP of Rawalpindi Police had to see the situation and convince the College Principal to give the culprits peacefully. But in the meanwhile one of the main culprits, Shahnawaz ran away to Karachi his home city with the help of the administration. The Police have arrested Hassan Afridi and Saood while the fourth Taimoor is still an absconder.

A journalist Naveed Nisar called SP Murree to ask why the Principle has not been arrested. The SP cut off the line saying ” meet me in my office.”

The parents and experts of law have demanded action against the Principal for supporting the culprits and threatening the victim.