DNA report confirms molestation of child

MANSEHRA: The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sample of a cleric accused of sexually assaulting a student of his seminary in Parhana area last month confirmed that he had abused the child.

“The DNA test confirmed that the accused had sexually assaulted his student,” Sadiq Baloch, the District Police Officer (DPO), told reporters on Friday. The suspect, Qari Shamsuddin, had allegedly sexually assaulted a student of his seminary on December 24 last year. Arif Javed, the Senior Superintendent of Police, who is member of the joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the incident, was also present. Though the DPO did not name Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah, he said those, who had harboured the accused during his hiding, would also be booked under relevant laws.

The JIT, which was constituted to probe the case, had also summoned Mufti Kifayatullah last week, and he was grilled for hours and booked as co-accused. Baloch said the police would recommend to the judiciary to try the accused in speedy/ modern trial court.

Kifayatullah, who had surrendered the accused Qari Shamsuddin to the police after three days following the FIR was lodged against him, had cleared the accused of all allegations, saying the case was registered at the behest of some non-governmental organisations.

According to the police, the accused told interrogators that Mufti Kifayatullah and his brother Abdul Malik had sheltered him from December 27 to 29. The provincial executive committee of the JUI-F in its meeting held in Peshawar on Thursday also suspended Kifayatullah as district head of the party and constituted a three-member committee led by its provincial general secretary Maulana Attaul Haq to probe the issue. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly had also debated the incident and demanded an exemplary punishment for the accused.