Man arrested for attempted assault on girl in Mansehra

MANSEHRA: The police on Wednesday arrested a man accused of luring an eight-year-old girl into a forest in the Battal area, where he allegedly attempted to assault her.

Officials said the suspect fled after failing in his attempt, leaving the girl seriously injured. “We have arrested the suspect who attempted to murder the girl after failing to assault her,” Senior Superintendent of Police Resham Jehangir told reporters here on Wednesday.

She said that District Police Officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur had constituted a special police team to trace and arrest the unidentified suspect after the girl was found unconscious in a gorge in the Sharkolai area of the Battal Police Station.

Jehangir said that a woman, who had gone to fetch water from a local stream, found the girl unconscious and informed villagers. The police rushed her to a nearby health facility where doctors confirmed that suspect attempted to rape here.

“The accused lured the girl into the nearby forest and, upon failing to assault her, brutally injured her and left her under a pile of rocks, thinking she was dead,” SSP Jehangir said.She said that police arrested the accused, Sohrab Akhtar, after raiding a house in the Sharkolai area.

The SHO of Battal Police Station, Shujaat Hussain, who led the police team, revealed that the girl’s mother had filed her missing report after she failed to return home.“The accused has confessed to his crime and provided details. He deceived the girl and took her to the jungle where she remained unconscious the entire night,” Hussain added.