A man was arrested on Thursday for attempted rape.
Police said a girl was taken to Azhar Shami alias Mitho Shah, a local pir, because she had been depressed. Shami told her family she was possessed by evil spirits and offered to would perform an exorcism.
He then took her to his room and tried to rape her. When she tried to raise alarm, he forced some medicine into her mouth. She still managed to leave the building and shout for help. Residents of the area called Rescue 1122 who took her to district headquarters (DHQ) hospital where her condition was later stated to be critical.
Talking to newsmen, Saddar Circle DSP Rao Asif Zaman said that the girl’s family had denied permission for a medical examination. He said samples of the food pumped from her stomach had been sent to the laboratory for analysis.
He said a case had been registered against the ‘exorcist’ and he had been arrested.
Another man claiming to be an exorcist in Toba Tek Singh had raped a girl for several days and asked to marry her before he was exposed and arrested earlier this month.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2013.