“They are affluent people,” Clifton SP Tariq Dharejo told The Express Tribune. “They are owners of real-estate agencies and petrol pumps. If they can provide alibis, we will look into that.”
The businessmen are suspects as they attended the same party as K, the victim. Dharejo said the entire route of the crime had been identified as well. “We are dealing with this case like these cases are dealt with abroad - find credible evidence, develop a case and then charge them,” he said.
There has been intense pressure on the police and government ever since the media caught wind of the rape, which has been confirmed by a medico-legal officer.
Lal Chand, the man who owns the flat where the victim attended a party, is not a suspect in the case any more. According to Dharejo, K made a statement saying that he was not involved in the crime. The police are now describing the previously hostile victim K as being mentally prepared to fight the case.
She and her friend S, who was with her at the party and until they were stopped by the alleged perpetrators, have been mentally prepared by the police about the case. “We have told them there will be media attention, some sections of the media will play it negatively, people will say things... and we have boosted them and told them that the police is here to support them.”
No people have, however, come forward with any new evidence or new details. “This is such a heinous crime... People never come forward,” lamented the officer. While he declined to provide any details about the alleged perpetrators until they had been caught, given that they may abscond if there was media attention about them, he said the police was confident in its investigation.
The police are also looking into the potential use of a silver Corolla as the car that hit K’s vehicle after she left the party.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.
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