Minor girl’s rape: Police suspect neighbour, relative

Investigators waiting for survivor’s condition to improve before recording statement

KARACHI: Police investigators suspect that the minor girl, who was raped and sodomised on Thursday, was abused by a neighbour or a relative.

S, who is believed to be only five years old, is a resident of Korangi 1.5. She went missing on Thursday morning at around 9am when she left her house as per usual. She is one of the four children of a labourer. The family hails from Larkana.

“When the girl did not return home by the evening, the family became worried and started searching for her,” said Investigations SP Malik Sarwar Altaf, quoting the family. The family did not learn about the incident until the media began reporting it on Thursday evening.

The police surgeon confirmed that S was raped and sodomised by unknown suspects and then thrown into a stream in Korangi. She is currently under treatment at Civil Hospital, Karachi.

As the case gained media attention and the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nasir took suo motu notice, the police in Karachi also sprang into action and launched a crackdown. They have detained nearly a dozen suspects from Ibrahim Hyderi and Korangi, one of whom is believed to be S’s neighbour.

“We are relying on technical and forensic evidence as well as also focusing on human intelligence,” explained SP Altaf.

The police investigators suspected that someone from the neighbourhood or a relative are the most likely suspects. “Usually in such cases, strangers are not involved,” investigation officer Rana Munir told The Express Tribune.

Munir said the investigations are still in the preliminary stage. “Today (Friday) we visited the site where the girl was recovered to look for more evidence and record the statements of witnesses,” he explained.

Meanwhile, a police team headed by Zone East police chief DIG Arif Hanif and Investigations SP Altaf visited the hospital to inquire about the girl’s health. They have yet to record her statement.

“She is much better now,” said DIG Hanif, confident that the culprits will be arrested soon. “Her condition is improving but I think we should give her more time so things can be normalised and she can cooperate with us,” said SP Altaf.

So far, police investigators have collected samples for S’s DNA profile. “This sample will be used to match with the suspect’s DNA whenever they are arrested to verify their involvement,” explained Munir, adding that the suspects’ DNA samples have also been collected.

This sample will be sent to Jamshoro University today, said Munir. “Usually it takes about two weeks [to get back the results] but we will try our best to get the report as soon as possible,” he said.

The rape and attempted murder case was registered at Ibrahim Hyderi police station on behalf of the state as the parents were unavailable on Thursday.

*Name withheld to protect identity of minor girl

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2017.