Two more victims come forward against Pindi paedophile

Police consider approaching Interpol for prosecution

RAWALPINDI: Two more children came forward on Thursday, alleging that a suspected paedophile currently in Rawalpindi police custody, had subjected them to abuse and filmed them while committing the heinous act to upload on the internet.

The Rawalpindi police subsequently registered two more cases against the ringleader of the 'International Dark Web' paedophilia gang Sohail Ayaz. The police are also now considering seeking help from Interpol to move forward with the prosecution.

Saddar SP Rai Mazhar Iqbal said that after news of Ayaz’s arrest spread, the brother of an 11-year-old fuel pump worker had approached the police.

Iqbal said that the victim’s brother Karim Khan filed a complaint with the Rawat police claiming that his 11-year-old brother had been missing for the past two and a half months and had possibly been kidnapped.

The police officer added that Ayaz, alias Ali, had allegedly approached the boy at the fuel pump he worked at and invited him to his car. There, he allegedly drugged the boy and raped him. He later confined the child in his house.

A case was registered against Ayaz on the complaint of the victim’s brother.

Similarly, another case was registered against Ayaz based on a written complaint submitted by his alleged victim. The victim claimed that he used to work and that Ayaz allegedly molested him.

Ayaz had been arrested by the Rawat police last week when the mother of a boy complained to the police.

Rawalpindi CPO Faisal Rana told the media that the suspect had allegedly kidnapped a 13-year-old tea boy, drugging him and then raping him over four days while he filmed the ordeal. The teenager’s mother had reported a complaint to the police about her son going missing.

During initial investigations, the suspect confessed that he was the ringleader of the 'International Dark Web' and had served sentences in both the United Kingdom and Italy for sexually abusing children. He was then deported to Pakistan where he allegedly confessed to 30 counts of child molestation.

Rana said that before his arrest, the 45-year-old chartered accountant was working as a consultant for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Public Sector Planning Department, with a salary of Rs0.3 million and a residence in the Nilour area of Islamabad.

“Ayaz was previously convicted for sexually assaulting minors in the UK and was deported after serving a jail sentence,” said the official said.

The suspect was also deported from Italy where he was part of a Romanian child pornography ring.

“We will require the FIA’s assistance in retrieving data uploaded by the suspect. Also, if the victims’ families do not want to become complainants against the suspect, then we will pursue the cases ourselves,” the Rawalpindi police chief added.

Ayaz is a former worker of the global non-profit organisation ‘Save the Children’. He was arrested in London in 2009 at the charity’s headquarters after thousands of child porn images were discovered at his home. He went to the UK on a two-year visa and at the time he was hired by the charity. He was also wanted in Italy in connection with a Romanian child sex ring.

Ayaz pleaded guilty to many sexual offences and was jailed for four years by a court in the UK. He was later convicted in Italy and spent six months in prison there before being deported.

According to the police, Ayaz’s parents and wife had parted ways with him many years ago because of his activities.

Saddar Division SP Rai Mazhar Iqbal told The Express Tribune that the police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) on behalf of the teenager’s mother.

The official said around two weeks ago, the teenager was selling tea in Bahria Town when Ayaz approached him, forced him into his car and took him home where he kept him for four days. During this time, Ayaz drugged the teenager, raped him and filmed the assault. 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2019.