Minor bludgeoned to death by ‘friends’

Was earlier sexually assaulted by the same kids.

GILGIT: Never in his wildest dreams had eight-year-old H* imagined what fate had in store for him when his friends from the neighbourhood S*, A* and O* knocked at his place on Saturday evening and offered to buy him a CD from Dar Plaza.

Wooed by childhood temptations, H accompanied his adolescent friends who had the most remorseless plan in mind. Around three months ago, H had been sodomised by the same group whom he frequently threatened with divulging the secret to his father.

The boys took H to the market and then to the Gilgit River nearby. By the time they reached the place, daylight had faded. There, 16-year-old S allegedly manhandled H into a cave while 14-year-old A and 15-year-old O kept vigil on passers-by.

H was strangulated, bludgeoned with stones, had his ears cut off and dumped in a pool of blood, some 500 meters away from his house in Majini Mohallah.

Meanwhile H’s family was already on a lookout, perturbed by his absence. Announcements were made through mosques and the family registered a complaint with the police on Sunday.

Gilgit Crime Investigation Department (CID) in charge inspector Muhammad Tariq not only resolved the mysterious absence but also nabbed the alleged murderers.

“To begin with, I sought help from CCTV footage,” Tariq told The Express Tribune. “I sat with my staff in the CCTV control room and focused on footage that was recorded between 4pm and 5pm on Saturday. “We zeroed in on the kids in Dar Plaza to recognize H with a picture of his,” he added.

Tariq said that S was accompanying H in the market. “We immediately called H’s family who recognised both,” he said.

Police raided S’s place where he refused the video evidence. However, he later confessed the murder and guided police to the site where the body was dumped.

Inspector Tariq said S also confessed to have sexually abused the boy three months ago. “H often threatened me to divulge the information to his father. This is why I decided to kill him,” S told the police during investigation.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2014.\