Boy’s body found in water tank

Police fail to find evidence of violence so far

RAWALPINDI:

The body of a 10-year-old boy was found from an underground water tank in an under-construction house in the precincts of Saddar Barooni police station on Saturday.

According to a police spokesman, three days ago, a case of abduction of a child named Hamza was registered at Saddar Baroni police station.

At the request of the father, a case of kidnapping was registered and an investigation was started, but police remained clueless about his whereabouts.

On Saturday, Hamza’s body was found in an underground water tank. Soon after the incident, City Police Officer (CPO) Omar Saeed Malik, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigations, SSP Operations, Superintendent of Police (SP) Pothohar, SP CIA and senior police officers rushed to the spot. The CPO formed teams under the supervision of SSP Investigation and SSP Operations to investigate the matter.

According to preliminary investigations, police said that no evidence of violence was observed, but facts will be brought forward in the light of forensic and post-mortem reports.

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Police forensic laboratory officials reached the spot and collected necessary evidence. A police spokesman said that the police had registered a case regarding the abduction of the child three days ago and an investigation was under way. The body of the child has been shifted to District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) for autopsy as per the instructions of the CPO.

The spokesman said that at present, no case of murder of the child is being registered. Apparently, no evidence has been found to prove that the child was killed after being allegedly raped. It looked more like an accident, he said, adding that police have decided that the investigation will continue to unearth the facts. A new case will be registered after receiving the post-mortem report and forensic evidence.

After the post-mortem, the body of the child was handed over to the heirs, he said.

On Friday, a trial court awarded life imprisonment to a man for raping his 10-year-old daughter and slapped a fine of Rs0.1 million. Additional District and Sessions Judge Sahibzada Naqib Shehzad announced the verdict and sentenced Tariq Habib to life imprisonment for raping his minor daughter.

A case was registered against the convict on a complaint of his wife, ZT*, on February 3, 2021, at City Police Station. As per FIR, the complainant, a resident of Rata Amral, told the police that Tariq Habib repeatedly raped his daughter.

The court ruled that the culprit had committed the most egregious form of gender violence, and that too against his own child and he did not deserve any leniency.

Earlier, the investigative team had also submitted a medical report and a DNA test report confirming the sexual abuse. Following the verdict, the convict was sent to Adiala jail.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2022.