Police say child was murdered to hush up gang-rape

HARIPUR: The senior police official on Tuesday said a seven-year-old boy in Sera-e-Saleh village was killed by the accused to hush up a gang-rape.

Speaking at a news conference, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Hazara Range Muhammad Ali Khan Babakhel said the motive behind the murder was to hush up a gang-rape as the boy was an eyewitness to the crime.

District Police Officer DPO Zahidullah Jan, Superintendent of Police Investigation Asif Gohar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Headquarters Iftikhar Khan, the boy’s father Habibur Rehman and other family members were also present.

The RPO told the journalists that Haseebullah, 7, son of Habibur Rehman, living in a rented house at Mohallah Jandran in Sera-e-Saleh village, had gone missing on May 23.

He said that some villagers spotted the body of Haseebullah dumped under the bridge near River Daur on May 25.

He said that the body was half-naked and carried torture marks on the face and head and was taken to a hospital for post-mortem.

The medico-legal officer, who conducted the postmortem, said in his report that the cause of death was stoning and strangulation, but he had not been subjected to a sexual assault.

The RPO said that a team of investigators headed by SP Asif Gohar and DPO Dr Zahidullah Jan arrested Sangeen Jan, a resident of Quetta presently settled in Sera-e-Saleh who was last seen with the boy on May 23.

Sangeen Jan, according to RPO during investigation disclosed that Haseeb was accompanying him on May 23 when they went to River Daur where Abdullah Younas, Saad

Jamil, Sayaab Gul and Sheraz of the same village gang-raped him (Sangeen Jan).

The official said that since Haseeb was an eyewitness to Sangeen’s ordeal so the accused murdered him to hush up the matter.

Sharing the autopsy report of Haseeb, the RPO brushed aside the impression that he was sexually assaulted before his murder.

The RPO said that the medical examination report of Sangeen Jan confirmed he was gang-raped by the accused.