Plea for extension in remand in gang rape case rejected

A court on Monday declined a plea of the Railways police to grant further extension in the physical remand of five suspects in a case pertaining to the alleged gang rape of a female passenger on the Bahaudin Zakaria Expressed.

The 25-year-old victim was travelling alone in an economy class when a ticket checker offered her a seat in the air-conditioned compartment of the Multan-Karachi train, where he along with other train employees subjected her to sexual abuse on May 27.

On Monday, the investigating officer (IO), Habibullah Khattak, produced the suspects, identified as Muhammad Zahid, Aqib Munir, Muhammad Zohaib, Amir Raza and Abdul Hafeez before Judicial Magistrate (South) Syed Anwar Ali Shah on the completion of their previous remand in the Railways police’s custody. All the detained suspects are employees of the train privately run between Multan and Karachi.

The IO stated that a DNA profiling report of the suspects and the victim was yet to be obtained, and the police had not yet recovered the mobile phones of the suspects to obtain their call data record (CDR) in order to ascertain whether they were in contact with the victim before the alleged felony. Therefore, he pleaded to the court to extend their physical remand.

Turning down the IO’s plea, the magistrate sent the suspects to prison. He observed that the police could not provide a cogent reason to make up a case for further extension in the physical remand of the suspects. The officer was told to complete the investigation and submit the charge sheet on the next date of hearing.