Academy owner arrested for rape attempt, blackmail

BAHAWALPUR:

Baghdadul Jadeed police arrested the owner of a tuition academy on Thursday for attempting to rape a 14-year-old student of grade five, taking nude pictures of her and blackmailing her parents. Police said this wasn’t the first time he had done this. 

The girl’s father filed a complaint with the Baghdadul Jadeed police on Wednesday night. He said a few days ago, Asghar Shaheen, head of the Asghar Shaheen Academy in Chak 7-BC near Bahawalpur, had called his daughter, a student at the academy, to his office. He said Shaheen had attempted to rape her and taken nude pictures of her. He said Shaheen had contacted him the next day and demanded Rs50,000 for the pictures. He said that he had paid Shaheen the money but he did not hand over the pictures. “Shaheen and three other men threatened me over the next few days and demanded more money,” the father told police. Police arrested Shaheen. Police said they had also seized several inappropriate photographs and a video from his office. SHO Irfan Akbar and Investigation Officer ASI Akhtar Khuloo told journalists that Shaheen had confessed to at least nine similar incidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2015.