Sialkot serial killer caught

A man confessed to killing 23 women by stoning them to death after luring them to deserted places.

SIALKOT:

Sialkot police arrested serial killer Sajid Yousuf on Tuesday, after three women filed a report against him.

Yousuf has admitted to killing 23 women. According to police officials one of the women he had recently tortured, Razia Bibi, died in the Sialhot DHQ on Wednesday evening bringing the total murder count to 24 women. Police officials said they began looking for Yousuf after three women filed a complaint against him.

According to Yousuf, he used to bring all his victims to the Motra nehr, where he would drown the bodies after stoning the women to death. “I am a cancer patient and I stole their jewellery to pay for my treatment,” he said. When the police asked Yousuf why he killed the women he responded with “they would have gone to the police so I had to kill them.” District police officer (DPO) Bilal Siddique Kamiyana said that when asked why he stoned the women, Yousuf said “I have cancer, I was angry.”

Originally a Gujranwala resident, Yousuf had been living in Bahrain for two years before he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and moved back to Pakistan. Yousuf had been living in Adalat Nagar, Sialkot and confessed that he began murdering women for their jewellery three and a half months ago. “I was beginning to get desperate and needed to pay for my treatment,” he said.

On Tuesday evening, the police caught Yousuf when a complaint was filed against him by Hajra, Nazira Bibi and Khursheed who said that they had each been attacked by him that day. “He told me that he was connected with the Benazir Income Support (BIS) scheme and could get me registered,” said Hajra, adding that Yousuf had asked her to accompany him on his motorbike. “He took me to an alley and started to steal my jewellery but I managed to escape,” she said. Nazira bibi said that Yousuf had told her he was working for the zakat fund and could help her get money. “I managed to escape when he tried to force me to accompany him,” she said. Khursheed bibi said that she was returning home in the evening when he stopped his bike in front of her. “He told me that his mother insisted that he escort women safely to their homes after it was dark and made sure they were safe. When I accepted his offer for a ride he took me near the nehr and tried to kill me,” she said. “I told them many things to accompany me,” Yousuf said, adding that he usually told them he could offer them financial help.

DPO Kamiyana said that Yousuf had admitted to killing 23 women. “With the death of Razia bibi today, he has killed 24 women and he says he has been committing the murders for the past three months,” he said. Police officials have already filed FIR’s for 16 murder cases against Yousuf and nine cases are yet to be traced.

“We are trying to locate any survivors and he is willing to give us names,” the DPO said. Yousuf is presently in police custody in the Sialkot Motra jail.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2010.