Accused in rape, murder case of Nowshera child arrested

NOWSHERA: The police said Tuesday the suspected rapist and killer of the nine-year-old child Manahil had been arrested.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police, Mardan Range, Muhammad Ali Gandpaur, revealed the breakthrough in the case while speaking at a press conference in the Nowshera Police Lines. The investigation team head, Nowshera District Police Officer Mansoor Aman, SP Investigation Syed Iftikhar Ali Shah, ASP Cantt Tassawar Iqbal, the father of the slain child, Shah Said, and others were also present. The DIG said the child had gone missing on December 27. A first information report was lodged with the police at 10 pm. Inspector General of Police Salahuddin Mahsud ordered the police to work out the case. A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was formed and the police launched the probe after registering the case under the Child Protection Act, he said. The JIT comprised of cops from Nowshera, Charsadda and Swabi districts and secret agencies personnel, he said, adding, a special technical investigation team was constituted headed by Nowshera DPO Mansoor Aman.

The team, he said, had nine members; one team was tasked with area profiling and DNA samples collection and the other was asked to gather intelligence. The DIG said 20 suspects were arrested, adding, DNA samples were collected from 200 persons. The cell phone data of over 200 people was analysed. Of them 174 were in contact with the father of the slain girl, Shah Said, he went on to say. Three cell numbers were put under observation, the DIG said, adding, among them was that of the suspect Yasir, son of Zarallah, a resident of Khatukhel, now living at Zareenabad, Nowshera Kalaan. It was found to be switched off from 5.25 pm on December 27, he added.

The DIG said the police technical team traced the accused within three days and arrested him. He said the accused had confessed to the crime and is stated to be a friend of the father of the slain child. The accused later led the police to the stone which was used to kill the child after subjecting her to sexual assault. The stone bore the blood stains of the victim. The stone was sent to the forensic lab for analysis in Lahore. The report will be received in a week.

Meanwhile, the accused during preliminary investigation disclosed that he had been eying the child Manahil for quite some time. He added that he had tried to assault her in the past but could not. On the day of the occurrence, he said, he chased the child as she left the Madrassa. He added that he told the child that her father had sent her clothes and asked her to accompany her to collect the same. He committed the gruesome act at the graveyard.

The accused told the investigators the child suffered injuries and threatened to inform her father and grandfather about his crime. “I first tried to kill her through strangulation.

Then I hit her in the chest and head that ended her life,” the man told investigators.The accused said later he attended the funeral of the victim and disappeared later.

He reportedly unveiled the names of a few people in Nawan Killay to police, who, he alleged, subjected children to sexual assault. A hashish addict, the accused is 31-year-old and a mason by profession. He has lived as a neighbour with the father of the child. A case was registered against the accused under 7 ATA or Anti-Terrorism Act. A local court handed over the accused to police for one-day physical remand. He will be produced before an anti-terrorism court in Mardan today to seek his one month physical remand. The DIG said the arrest was not the end and vowed to get the accused punished through the court of law. Meanwhile, the police chief announced commendation certificates and Rs100,000 cash awards for the members of the investigation team. The suspect, a 21-year-old man, was arrested after his DNA sample matched with samples taken from the crime scene, the police official informed.

The suspect is a friend of the victim’s father, the DIG said. He added that at least 20 suspects had been interrogated in connection with the case, and over 200 DNA samples taken to trace the killer.

The case is one of the numerous heinous incidents of child abuse and murder that have been highlighted in the media after the rape and murder cases of two minors - Aasma and Zainab - early last year sparked widespread condemnation as well as calls to address the issue of child sexual abuse.

As many as 11 cases of child sexual abuse are reported from across Pakistan every day, according to data collected by non-governmental organisation Sahil.