Confessions of a young paedophile

LAHORE: Fifteen-year-old Salman Khan who was arrested for the criminal assault and murder of a four-year old girl named Tehniyat Muneer* confessed during police interrogation.

He revealed that he saw the child playing on the street in Rachna Town and lured her to follow him promising to buy her candies. Salman was Tehniyat’s neighbour and the two families knew each other quite well.

Ferozewala Station House Officer (SHO) Saleem Akhtar Niazi confirmed that the accused divulged that he took the child to an under-construction house and gagged her with a piece of cloth before assaulting her. Salman recalled that he waited for the child to pass out from suffocation so she would not scream and attract attention.

The young man admitted that he had realised before the act that Tehniyat was probably dead. Salman further confessed that he placed the child’s body in a room inside the house while he dug up a small grave in the garden. He then carried Tehniyat back into the backyard and buried her before making his escape.

Salman returned to his normal everyday activities confident that no one had seen him.

SHO Saleem stated that he had deputed a team of special investigators accompanied by sniffer dogs to gather evidence after Tehniyat’s death. He said that the child’s family vehemently denied Salman’s involvement after the dogs led the team straight to his house. Her parents maintained that they interacted with Salman and his family frequently and could not believe he was capable of such an offence.

Tehniyat’s uncle Jabbar Ahmed told The Express Tribune that the family had moved into the locality in a rented house just four months ago.

He added that they were considering relocating immediately as they feared retaliation from Salman’s family after his arrest.

Jabbar said that police officials of Ferozewala station were providing them protection for now but they were too disheartened to live so close to Salman’s family.

SHO Saleem also confirmed that a seven-day physical remand had been obtained and an FIR registered against the accused under sections 302, 376, 377 and 7 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

* The child’s name has been changed