Cleric sent on four-day judicial remand

Police say they have to take the suspect to Lahore for a DNA test

RAWALPINDI:

Civil Judge Asif Iqbal awarded a four-day physical remand of Mufti Shahnawaz charged with molestation of a 15-year-old seminary student. The suspect was brought to the court under heavy security on Thursday.

The investigation team pleaded with the court to grant a week-long physical remand of the suspect as they have to take him to Lahore for a DNA test.

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A police officer, part of the investigation team, informed that the seminary principal, female teacher, Ishrat Hanif, and student, Muskan Nisar, will be taken to Lahore for polygraphy and potency tests at 6 am.

The court has ordered the tests of the female teacher to be done during the day owing to which the Rawalpindi police have chosen the morning hour to leave for Lahore.

The permission letters of the high police officials, as well as the police dockets, have already been obtained for the forensic tests. The members of the joint investigation team (JIT) will also accompany them while the DNA report will come out in a week.

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Furthermore, Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Aijaz Asif will hear the interim bail plea filed by the female teacher. JIT’s investigation with the suspect’s and victim’s mother spanned eight hours. A police team also searched Ishrat’s closet for the minor’s clothes, however, they were not found.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2021.