NOWSHERA: A committee formed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to investigate alleged torture on a woman by her in-laws and police in Nowshera has visited the house of the victim girl and recorded her statement and also sought the phone data of the in-laws to ascertain truth.

After the issue came to the notice of the government through media, it formed a three-member committee headed by Law and Human Rights Department Director General Dr Asad Ali to probe the matter.

KP Minister for Law and Human Rights Barrister Sultan Muhammad Khan had said after the incident that no compromise will be made on protecting human rights and the victim woman will get justice.

The Human Rights Commission after recording the statement of the victim woman, Hadiqa Noor, in Cherat, took the record of Jalozai Police Station into custody. The 19-year-old woman had also accused policemen of torture. The Commission members took pictures in the police station and also recorded statements of the accused policemen. The Commission has also sought phone record of the concerned station house officer (SHO), other policemen at the police station, the woman’s husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law.

The victim woman’s brother, Majid Shah also recorded statement. He expressed dissatisfaction over non-inclusion of relevant clauses in the FIR and non-inclusion of the names of accused police officials.

Hadiqa Noor had alleged that she is seven-month pregnant and her husband is abroad for work. She alleged that her in-laws are continuously subjecting her to torture and her brother-in-law is forcing her to enter into illicit relations with him. She alleged that on refusal to enter illicit relations, the in-laws registered a fake case of theft of Rs1.2 million and 10 tolas gold jewellery against her.

The in-laws of Hadiqa Noor have rejected all the allegations and said that they have been subjected to media trial.

Brother-in-law Amjid said while talking to media persons in Peshawar that his sister-in-law started theft from the very first day of wedding, but they remained silent to protect the honour of the family. Father-in-law Faisal said Hadiqa was in fact in her parents’ home the day she accused him of torture. He demanded thorough probe into the matter instead of media trial.

Hadiqa had also accused the SHO of Jalozai Police Station of torture on the instigation of her in-laws. The accused policemen have also denied involvement in torture.