Shazia Khalid

Shazia Khalid ( sd, شازيه خالد) ( ur, شازیہ خالد ) (born 1973) is a medical doctor and advocate of women's human rights from Sui, Pakistan.

Background

Dr. Shazia Khalid is married to Khalid Zafar, a pipeline engineer. In 2005 Dr. Shazia was an employee of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), and working at the company's Sui hospital for the past 18 months while living alone in accommodation provided by PPL. Security services for the entire facility were provided by the Defence Services Group (DSG). She had taken the job only after PPL had also promised a job for her husband. The job, however, never materialized.

Rape

On the night of 2 January and in the early morning hours of 3 January 2005, Dr. Shazia was awoken by somebody pulling her hair. She was then strangled with a cord, threatened, blindfolded, pistol-whipped, beaten, and repeatedly raped by a masked intruder, at Sui, Dera Bugti, in the heavily guarded government-owned natural gas plant. She was severely injured in the attack but managed to cut her hands free of the cord and sought help from a nurse, Sakina, at the nearby nursing hostel. Sakina then informed the administration of PPL and the DCMO; the medical staff on duty, Dr. Mohammad Ali, Dr. Irshad, Dr. Saima Siddiqui, nurse Firdous and Salimullah visited Dr. Shazia. Her pleas to contact her husband (who was working in Libya at the time) and her family was ignored.Rape victim under pressure to keep mum
/ref> Instead of treating her medically, officials were said to have drugged her into unconsciousness with sedatives for three days to keep her quiet and then transferred her to a psychiatric hospital, Asghar Psychiatric Hospital, in Karachi.

House arrest

Her husband, Khalid, in Libya at the time, rushed back to Pakistan to be reunited with his wife. With his support, Shazia reported the crime.Shazia Khalid – Twice Violated
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Following the report, for a period of 2 months, she was put under house arrest in a house in Karachi under the "unofficial protection" of the police, army and Musharraf officials and was not allowed access to doctors, lawyers or visitors of her choice. In addition, the crime scene and anything that could be considered as evidence, including the clothes of Dr. Shazia, were tampered with or destroyed. When her family was informed some days later, Dr. Shazia and her family were told to keep quiet and dissuaded to register the rape case or speak to the media by the PPL Company representatives, who denied the rape to the media.Shazia Khalid and the fight for justice in Pakistan
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Her husband Khalid said, his grandfather demanded that Khalid divorce her, because he felt, her rape had rendered her a stain on the family honour. Khalid refused. So the grandfather assembled a mob to kill Shazia.

Her case led to a violent uprising by the Bugti tribe in Baluchistan province, disrupting the supply of gas to much of the country for several weeks. By some accounts, up to 10,000 soldiers and police were brought in to quell the rebellion. As the Pakistani authorities attacked the Bugti, President Musharraf promised that the tribesmen would "not know what hit them." and attacks on the Bugti tribesmen were intensified.Musharraf’s Rape Cover-Up
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An unusual development occurred, when the then Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf entered the controversy, stating on national television, that the accused officer, named as Captain Hammad, was "not guilty", which led to criticism of Musharraf, a military man himself. Both politicians as well as Pakistani human rights lawyer, Asma Jahangir voiced their criticism and concerns following the statement.

Threats

In an interview with the BBC
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