Teenage girl raped, killed in Chichawatni

Parents of victim left her alone at home when suspect intruded

CHICHAWATNI:

A 13-year-old girl was raped and killed in Chichawatani.

Police arrested the suspect within a few hours.

Farooq Ahmed Qureshi, a resident of Dars Colony in Kasowal, had gone out of his house for some work.

Farooq's wife Zubaidah Bibi went to Ada Iqbal to collect the aid money of Benazir Income Support Program.

Both the parents were not present at home.

Their 13-year-old daughter was alone at home.

When Zubaidah Bibi returned home after noon prayer, no one opened the door despite knocking for a long time.

Zubaidah Bibi requested a boy to open the door by jumping over the wall. The body of the girl was lying in the house. The suspect had strangled her to death after sexually assaulting her.

The murderer tortured her, and there were marks of cigarette burns on various parts of the victim's body.

Upon receiving information about the tragic incident, the RPO of Sahiwal, Mian Mehboob Rashid, took notice of the incident.

A police team led by the DPO of Sahiwal, Faisal Shehzad, reached the spot.

The DPO of Sahiwal, Faisal Shahzad, formed a special team comprising the SHO of Kasowal Police Station, the CIA staff and IT experts under the supervision of the DSP of Chichawatani.

The team was given 24 hours’ time to arrest the suspect.

The special police team, using scientific method of investigation and modern technology with professional skills, traced and arrested the 25-year-old suspect Sajid alias Shehzad, a resident of Sikandar Town, Kasowal, within four hours.

The suspect was said to have had close relationship with the victim.

In July 2022, three teenagers and a woman were raped in Khurrianwala. The accused who allegedly raped the 14-year-old boy had also made a video of their immoral activities.

Rakhal Bibi filed a case with the police in which she stated that accused Nadeem Masih, an acquaintance of hers, allegedly raped her fourteen-year-old daughter by taking her to a fish farm when he had found her alone in the house.

Police said three accused, including Hanan, entered a house in Razaabad, kidnapped a teenage girl at gunpoint, took her to their hideout where Hanan allegedly raped the teenager while his two companions kept watch. According to police, accused Asim and others kidnapped a woman in 58 GB when the latter had gone out of home to buy some foodstuff.

The accused took the victim to an unknown place where Asim allegedly raped her. In yet another incident, police said that a fourteen-year-old boy was kidnapped from 253 RB, Samandari Road, by three people who took him to an unknown place where they gang-raped him and blackmailed him by making a video.

Police registered cases against the accused and started searching for them.

Sexual violence unfortunately remains a common occurrence within Punjab.

Earlier in July 2022, a female bus passenger was allegedly raped by the conductor at a rest stop in Rajanpur. The bus was headed from Bhakkar to Karachi.

The 30-year-old victim, who was travelling alone, disembarked the bus when it stopped at the Sada Aihar Hotel in Rajanpur.

The bus conductor forced the woman into the back seat of the bus, where he allegedly raped her. A case was registered upon the complaint of the victim, with a medical examination confirming that she had been assaulted. The accused was arrested and confessed to the crime.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2023.