Swat girl denies flogging incident due to social pressure, militants' fear

Peshawar, Apr 6 (ANI): The girl who was reportedly flogged in Swat has denied the incident, and termed the happening as baseless and not based on facts due to social pressure and Taliban militants' fear.

A team of two high officials comprising Commissioner Malakand Syed Mohammad Javed and a senior judge reportedly visited Kala village situated in the far-off area of tehsil Kabal and recorded the statement of the girl.

The two officials recorded the statements of the girl and her husband, in which they completely denied the incident; The Nation quoted sources, as saying.

They maintained that the team reached the area in full security, met the girl and showed her a video in which she was being flogged publicly somewhere in Kabal.

The sources informed that the girl had told the officials that she was happily married and had never been flogged.

After recording the statement, the team reached the provincial capital, as the report is likely to be submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday.

Meanwhile, the NWFP Chief Secretary and the Inspector General of police (IGP) may not produce the girl, as the officials appear before the larger bench of the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken a suo moto notice of the public lashing of the teenaged girl in Swat after a footage of the incident appeared on private television channels.

Apart from the federal Interior Secretary, the NWFP Chief Secretary, IGP, Advocate General and president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) were directed to appear and produce the victim before the larger bench of the Supreme Court.

"We are yet to take the girl into our protection and that's why we may not produce her before the court on Monday," Malakand Division Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed said. (ANI)