One week on, police fail to nab alleged rapists

Almost a week after the horrific incident of rape of a 24-year-old girl at the capital’s Fatima Jinnah Park, investigators seem to grope in the dark to trace the alleged rapists due to ‘poor CCTV footage’ and lack of ‘clear-enough’ clues.

According to sources, the incident has put a question mark on the viability of the multi-billion rupee safe city project and the much-trumpeted claims of a ‘safe city’ by Islamabad Capital Territory Police.

The incident took place on February 2 wherein the victim claimed that she was visiting the Fatima Jinnah Pak also known as F-9 Park along with a male companion when she was raped by armed men at gunpoint. Sources said the capital police have failed to trace the alleged rapists despite claiming to have installed sophisticated cameras at every nook and corner under the Islamabad Safe City Project.

They also revealed that the Safe City cameras installed in the proximity of the crime scene do not have the capability of night vision, which is the reason why the probe was going ahead at a snail’s pace. The footage obtained, they said, is so substandard that the faces of the visitors are not clear.

However, the investigators have sought the data of suspects nominated in rape cases registered in the police stations of the twin cities in one year. Police sources told The Express Tribune that Islamabad Inspector General of Police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan has once again issued instructions to the investigation wing of the capital police to trace the accused at any cost using advanced investigative methods instead of traditional ones.

The IG has also ordered to analyse the data obtained through geo-fencing on an urgent basis, the sources said adding that the scope of investigation of phone numbers found during geo-fencing has been widened and now the process will take few more days. So far, the investigation wing has completed the process of scrutinising the footage of the Safe City cameras, obtained not just on the day of the incident but also of the entire week, they said.

Police sources further said despite the efforts of the investigation wing, the investigators are unable to make a breakthrough and now it has become a test case for the detectives of the capital police. They said the pace of the probe has also put a question mark on the efficiency of the investigation wing. On the other hand, a senior officer of the department told this scribe that the investigation team headed by a superintendent of the police was trying hard to bring the culprits to justice. In response to a question, he said, the incident does not seem to be a random act of sexual violence but a perpetrated crime involving habitual rapists.

According to the statement of the victim, she was separated from her companion at gunpoint in broad daylight at a public park and was taken to a deserted forest area, he said adding that this indicated that the act is of habitual criminals who must have carried out such incidents before and were well familiar with the park. To another question, he too pointed out the inferior quality of the safe city cameras’ footage.

He also said after this incident, it has been decided to gradually replace the safe city cameras with modern and high-quality cameras having night vision capability. The police officer further informed that the girl was shown the faces of more than two dozen people during the probe but she could not identify the accused.