For every story that comes out in the open, there are hundreds that never see the light of the day, resulting in continual abuse of many young women and girls.

The lack of support from the local administration coupled with the stoic silence from the human rights defenders have ensured that these poor women have no outlet to air their grievances.

Among such thousands of cases, one such case that recently grabbed attention was that of Maria Tahir.

She belonged to the Punjab province of Pakistan and married in Bhimber District of POK. Her horrific story of torture and abuse is a mirror to the day to day atrocities faced by these women.

Maria was gang-raped in 2015 by some influential and politically backed people in Bhimber. They filmed her video and blackmailed her in return for money.

Over the years, she was continuously blackmailed by her rapists, who grabbed lakhs of Rupees from her, and when she stopped giving in to their threats, they kidnapped her son and demanded ransom money in return.

The continuous abuse, harassment, and threat from the perpetrators forced her to think about ending her life.

Unable to continue with the in-tolerable torment, she finally confided in her husband, who supported and pledged to fight for justice.

The couple went to the Bhimber Police Station to register an FIR but the Police authorities refused to file their FIR.

Around 25 to 30 goons of the former Minister of PAK Chaudhary Tariq Farooq attacked them and took them to the local Panchayat.

They were held captive in the Panchayat for 19 days, where they were continuously mocked and tortured.

Moreover, the rapists were present there too and accepted their heinous crime in front of everyone.

Two laptops were recovered from the rapists, which contained the recordings and video of the gang rape. Not only this but the video of gang-rape was allegedly played shamelessly in front of everyone. Bhimber Police along with the Panchayat coerced Maria and her husband at gunpoint to sign a compromise agreement.

Later, the couple went to the DIG Mirpur Police with a copy of the agreement and narrated their whole ordeal. DIG helped them to file their plea in Bhimber Police Station.

Afterward, when they reached again at the Bhimber Police Station, they were told that instead of one, two FIRs had been filed, one from Maria and the other was by Bhimber Police themselves giving green chit to the criminals.

Frustrated with all these developments, Maria shifted her investigation from Bhimber Police to SSP Mirpur.

Following this, two culprits were arrested but the rest of the case did not proceed due to political pressure. 

Afterwards, she again went to the Police Station but this time with the media, and to everyone’s shock, they saw that the accused were not in jail, instead they found the main person sleeping in a room belonging to a sub-inspector.

Subsequently, local authorities dismissed her case within eight months without any hearing.

She then appealed in Mirpur Shariat Court which has  been pending for the last seven years.

During these years, the couple were harassed on the pretext of the investigation. Her husband was threatened with death and was pressured to take back the case.

The police even barred them from entering the court. In addition, the main culprit’s brother was Additional Law Secretary Muzaffarabad, ending all hopes for Maria to get any kind of justice.

The culprits are reportedly habitual offenders and have done such crimes in the past too.

There are reports of them kidnapping and raping girls from Mirpur, Bhimber, and Samhani, filming their videos, and blackmailing them. One girl was burnt alive to death after being raped. Other women remain silent out of  fear.

The sad truth of the whole incident was that despite having all the proof and witnesses against them, the culprits remain at large and not a single case is running against them because of their political connections and power.

Maria even protested in front of the UN Office in Pak Administered Kashmir and Islamabad but no one came to her rescue.

However, there are thousands of Marias in Pakistan Administered Kashmir who are going through the same ordeal over decades but all their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

These women are helpless and every door of justice has been closed for them.

POK is filled with stories of such hapless women, yearning for justice, which is invariably denied to them.