Dr Shazia Khalid Rape Case

In January 2005, the brutal rape of Dr. Shazia Khalid within a secure hospital precinct in Sui, Balochistan, apparently by an army captain, provoked riots across Balochistan. The rapist, an army officer, was shielded by the Pakistani authorities and army and resulted in riots and a violent tribal uprising. What followed was a chilling display of institutional complicity, intimidation, and obstruction of justice that culminated with the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti, and pushed Balochistan into a fire that has not died down even to this day.

Dr Shazia Khalid’s Rape Incident

Dr. Shazia Khalid, a medical professional and advocate for women’s rights, was employed by Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) at the company’s Sui hospital. She had taken the position under the assurance that her husband, Khalid Zafar, a pipeline engineer, would also be employed by PPL—a promise that was never kept. Despite this, she remained committed to her work, providing medical care to women and children in dire conditions.

“…once I started, I quickly realized that was an empty promise; it seemed they had no intention of offering my husband a job. I remained in the job because I felt a great deal of compassion for my patients. I was working with women and children, who were in a sorry state, uneducated and unaware about their rights or matters regarding their health. Most mothers had more than ten children, their husbands had four wives and would mistreat them. They lived in really depressing and filthy conditions. I did what I could to help them.”

On the night of January 2, 2005, Dr. Shazia was attacked in her residence at the hospital staff quarters. She was strangled, blindfolded, beaten, pistol-whipped, and repeatedly raped by a masked intruder. Despite being located in a heavily guarded area under the security of the Defence Services Group (DSG), the attack went unchallenged.

Severely injured, she managed to free her hands from the cord and sought help from a nurse, Sakina, at a nearby nursing hostel. Sakina alerted the PPL administration and the duty medical staff, including Dr. Mohammad Ali, Dr. Irshad, Dr. Saima Siddiqui, nurse Firdous, and Salimullah. However, instead of being provided with immediate medical care, Dr. Shazia was drugged and sedated for three days to keep her quiet, and was then transferred to Asghar Psychiatric Hospital in Karachi against her will.

“I was raped in my bedroom, at the official hospital staff residence. When we asked the police about the evidence they found there, they confessed that they hadn’t even sealed the room. Countless people came and went and tampered with anything that could be regarded as evidence and destroyed it. My clothes were taken from me under the supervision of a Sister, and even those items of clothing have vanished. How on earth would they conduct an investigation when they destroyed most of the evidence? The PPL bears huge responsibility in this.”

Dr Shazia Khalid’s Case: Obstruction of Justice

Efforts to investigate and prosecute Dr. Shazia Khalid’s rape by the army officer were systematically undermined. The crime scene was left unsecured, crucial evidence—including her clothes—was tampered with or destroyed, and police officers failed to conduct a proper forensic investigation.

Dr. Shazia Khalid’s husband, Khalid Zafar, who was working in Libya at the time, rushed back to support her, and managed to report the crime, but instead of justice, the couple faced house arrest under the pretense of “unofficial protection” of the police, army, and Musharraf administration. They were denied access to lawyers, doctors, or visitors. The authorities attempted to silence the case through intimidation—Pakistan Petroleum Ltd representatives discouraged legal action, and her husband’s family pressured him to divorce her, claiming the incident had dishonoured their family name. When he refused, his grandfather allegedly mobilized a mob to kill her.

Visitors were not allowed to enter the house in Karachi where Shazia Khalid was kept—not even if invited. A police team stood guard at the gate, while army rangers patrolled the grounds inside. “You need permission from the bosses at the top,” a moustache officer would say firmly. “The very top.”

“We are very scared. In Pakistan, there is no law, no protection—nothing. Who can we trust? Nobody.”

Even when Dr. Shazia was finally allowed to give her statement, the police treated her with suspicion rather than compassion. They implied she was involved in prostitution and fabricated stories about money and used condoms being found in her room.

“Before the police arrived to take my statement, the company’s chief medical officer warned me, ‘Don’t give them any information.’ Then they injected me with a tranquillizer that made me drowsy,”

At the same time, the police announced that DNA tests on the primary suspect did not match the evidence from the scene, fueling suspicions of a cover-up.

Meanwhile, Balochistan police re-interviewed Dr. Shazia—this time implying she was involved in prostitution.

“They asked me where I got the 25,000 rupees [£225] that was stolen and when I wore my jewellery. They even claimed a cleaner had found used condoms in my room,”

Balochistan unrest

The rape of Dr. Shazia Khalid ignited violent protests by the Bugti tribe in Balochistan. Members of the local Bugti clan saw a rape in their heartland as being a breach of their code of honour—particularly as the perpetrator was a captain in the much-despised Pakistani army.  In retaliation, the tribe attacked the Sui gas field with rockets and mortars, disrupting the supply of gas across Pakistan for 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.

The government’s response was brutal. The dictator Pervez Musharraf sent an uncompromising response: tanks, helicopters and an extra 4,500 soldiers to guard the installation. If the tribesmen failed to stop shooting, he warned on television, “they will not know what hit them”.

Instead of pursuing justice for Dr. Shazia, the authorities sought to crush the resistance. Musharraf dismissed the allegations outright, stating on national television that Captain Hammad—the primary suspect—was “not guilty.” His statement drew widespread criticism, including from human rights activists like Asma Jahangir.

The military intensified its operations against the Bugti, leading to further bloodshed. Musharraf openly threatened the tribesmen, warning that they “would not know what hit them.”

Instead of engaging in dialogue, investigating the crime and dispensing, the Pakistani government accused India and Iran of fueling the rebellion. They alleged that there were about 50 training camps, each with between 20 and 200 militants, in the province, and announced plans for a permanent military garrison in Sui.

Threats, Intimidation and Exile: Dr Shazia Khalid

Dr. Shazia faced relentless threats and intimidation. She and her husband realized there was no path to justice in Pakistan. What followed is best described by Dr. Shazia Khalid in her own words in an interview:

“After the incident, Usman Bajwa and the field manager, Pervaiz Jamula got in touch with me. They said they knew what had happened to me, and that they had found evidence. But they told me, as a matter of integrity, I should not speak to anyone about it. They gave me sedatives for two days to keep me unconscious. I also requested that they contact my family, to get my mother from Karachi to come to Sui to be with me, since I was completely disoriented and confused following the trauma of what had happened to me. But they did not call my family.

On 27 February we went for an identification at the police station. They had lined up about nine or ten men behind a glass. I told them that there was no way I could recognize the face, but I would never forget the voice for the rest of my life. So they arranged for the men to stand behind a curtain in another room and utter a few words so I could hear them. But it was none of those voices. That was the last involvement I had with the investigation. They did not contact me again with further queries or identifying evidence or anything.

When we went to the identification parade, a military intelligence major came and talked to us. He said I have two things to tell you; one is excellent news and one is really bad.

The good news, he said, was that the real culprit had been arrested. But the bad news was that five armed men had been sent from Bugti House to come after us and kill us, apparently on the orders of Sardar Akbar Bugti, a tribal leader in Sui. (Sardar Akbar Bugti claims that his intention was to avenge her.) The best thing would be for us to leave Pakistan instantly. The army could not offer us a safe house. Of course we were naïve we realise now that these were all ploys to panic us into getting us out of the country. Frankly, we have been hoodwinked by the authorities, who pretended to work in our interest but just wanted to get us to leave the country.

Dr Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig came from Islamabad to see us in Karachi. They told us they had met with the high authorities there and that we had no choice but to leave Pakistan as our lives were in danger.

They asked us where we wanted to go. We argued that we did not wish to leave, but they insisted our lives were in serious danger and we could not stay in Pakistan. We said Canada was the logical choice. I have a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law and family friends there, but I had never been out of Pakistan before. So they brought us the forms for Canadian immigration which they said they would submit on our behalf. Not much time had passed since the incident so I was still in shock.

Masood returned two days later and said the Canadian High Commission required more time, perhaps four or five weeks. He said it would be a great risk to wait that long and so he had brought the form for a UK visa. We said we didn’t know anyone in the UK but he remained adamant that we go to the UK while they continued with the Canada application.

The president of the Aurat Foundation, Anees Haroon was a great help and offered us a great deal of guidance and support. Dr Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig also visited her and she couldn’t understand why they were in such a hurry to get my husband and me out of Pakistan. She asked for our case to be filed, to let the investigations proceed, the tribunal to be set up and judgement passed. They in turn asked, can you guarantee their safety for even a single day, can you give assurance that you can keep them alive for one more day?

To that she had no response. After my husband and I arrived in the UK I got back in touch with her, but it’s been a while since we’ve heard from her. Now I even feel that even Anees has been silenced by the authorities.”

A so-called “Judicial Tribunal” was convened, but it failed to identify any suspects. Though human rights organizations and media outlets highlighted the case, Dr. Shazia remained skeptical, believing that justice would never be served given the military’s involvement.

In an interview with the BBC, Dr. Shazia said that she was threatened many times. “I cannot tell you how many times I was threatened. My life was made impossible. I am still terrified.” “My whole career was destroyed, as was my husband’s. That was why we left our country.” “Instead of getting justice, I was hounded out of Pakistan. I never wanted to leave Pakistan, but had no choice.”

The entire episode underscored the systemic failure of Pakistan’s institutions— where instead of bringing criminals to justice, a Pakistani rape victim and a survivor of sexual violence was forced into silence. Dr. Shazia’s rape case also exacerbated tensions in Balochistan and culminated in the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti, which plunged Balochistan into a cycle of unrest and resistance from which it has not recovered since.

According to Amnesty International, “[Shazia Khalid’s rape] case has also further inflamed relations between the tribal chiefs in Balochistan, who see this rape as an attack on their honour, and the government of Pakistan, who have been accused of covering up details of the case.”