Failed by Law, Robbed of Home: The Destruction of a Family in Uch Sharif.

In the historic town of Uch Sharif, Rabia Bibi faced harassment every time she left her house. As an uneducated village woman and a mother of four, she had to go outside daily to buy food and take care of her children. Her husband worked as a daily-wage rickshaw driver, but he also struggled with drug addiction. Because of his addiction, Rabia had to handle both the home and all outdoor work alone.

The harassment Rabia faced was not random. It had a clear purpose. The family owned their home, and influential local neighbours wanted to take the property. Knowing the husband was weak due to addiction and the wife had no protection, the neighbours used constant harassment and threats to force the family off their land.
Kidnapping and Police Refusal to Help
The problem got worse when the neighbours kidnapped Rabia and held her for a whole week. After she got free, Rabia went to the local police station multiple times to report the crime and request protection. However, as an uneducated woman with no money or political backing, her repeated attempts to seek help were ignored, and officers refused to register an official report.

Exhausted, traumatised, and left without police help, Rabia told her husband everything. Furious and under the influence of drugs, her husband took an unlicensed pistol obtained locally in the village, went to the neighbours, and shot them in the legs. Immediately after the shooting, he surrendered to the police voluntarily, and an official FIR was registered against him in February 2025.

When asked about her visits, local police denied her claims. They said she never submitted an official written complaint before the shooting took place. This difference shows how hard life is for poor, uneducated women in rural areas, where even getting the police to write down a complaint is a major struggle.

Because Rabia is an uneducated villager who does not understand legal paperwork, and because she was forced to move between different relatives’ houses after losing her home, critical documents, including her copy of the FIR, were misplaced. However, ground investigations and interviews with local neighbours confirm that Rabia made multiple visits to the police station before the incident.
Unequal Law Enforcement and Loss of Home
The police acted immediately after the shooting, arresting the husband on the spot. But they completely ignored the long history of harassment, kidnapping, and land grabbing that caused the fight. The court sent her husband to prison. As soon as he went to jail, the neighbours took over the family home by force, throwing Rabia and her four children onto the street.

When Rabia tried to get legal help, she visited a High Court lawyer to file a complaint.

Advocate High Court Yasir Shah Gillani, who works on civil and criminal cases in the area, explains what happened:

“Rabia Bibi came to my office to write an application, but our justice system fails poor people,” says Advocate Yasir Shah Gillani. “Police ignored her complaints because the land grabbers had political backing and her husband had an addiction. When a family has no money or political power, local police call serious problems like harassment and land grabbing simple domestic fights, leaving victims with no safety.”
Silenced by Family Pressure and Police Extortion
Rabia wanted to speak to the news to expose the injustice, but her husband and relatives pressured her to stay silent. They warned her that going to the media would destroy the family’s honour and reputation in the community.

Silenced and homeless, Rabia now works cleaning other people’s homes to feed her children. She depends on relatives for a place to stay, which forces her to do whatever they say since she has nowhere else to go. On top of this, she faces weekly demands for money from local police. To keep her husband safe from beatings in the police station, she has to pay a weekly bribe of 1,000 rupees to the officers. If she does not bring the money, officers beat her husband in custody.

Police and jail officials deny all bribery allegations, stating that custodial abuse does not happen and all safety rules are followed legally. However, victim statements and family accounts confirm these ongoing weekly payments.

Jamshed Iqbal Bhatti, a relative who discreetly helps the family, describes her struggle:

“Rabia Bibi is trapped between family pressure, police corruption, and extreme poverty,” says Jamshed Iqbal Bhatti. “I help her quietly with small amounts of money or food when I can, but her life is very hard. I have to help her discreetly because of heavy pressure from family elders who do not want any outside trouble or societal shame. She pays 1,000 rupees to the police station every week just to stop them from beating her husband in jail. Her home is gone, she has no money, and she sees no hope for justice.”
A Systemic Failure
Rabia Bibi’s story shows how local systems fail poor families in rural South Punjab. Statements from neighbours, her lawyer Advocate Yasir Shah Gillani, and her relative Jamshed Iqbal Bhatti all confirm her account. From street harassment and stolen land to police denials, bribes, and pressure from her community, the system failed her at every turn. Today, this mother of four has no home, cleans houses to feed her children, and pays weekly bribes just to keep her husband safe in police custody.