DNA samples of the suspect matched in minor girls’ rape, murder cases, says IG-KP
Haqnawaz Shinwari
PESHAWAR
Police have arrested the main suspect who sexually assaulted and then killed girls in the provincial capital, it emerged on Thursday.
The Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Moazzam Jah Ansari confirmed the development at a press conference in Peshawar.
He said that DNA sample of the arrested suspect matched during investigation and he had confessed to killing two girls after sexually assaulted them.
IG-KP said that the accused identified as Sohail and aged between 25 and 30, adding with the help of CCTV footage and professional capacity, the police investigation teams managed to arrest the primary suspect.
Moazzam Jah Ansari, speaking at a press conference at Police Lines Peshawar, said that the accused was the resident of Sufaid-Dheri area of Peshawar who would change his appearance before committing the heinous crimes only on Sunday.
It is pertinent to mention here at least two girls were killed while another was allegedly raped in Peshawar.
Sources privy to the matters told this scribe that the investigation teams in the three cases have profiled around 100 suspects and acquired their DNA samples.
In the first case, 11-year-old Mahnoor was allegedly raped and then murdered. Similarly in the next week, another minor girl identified as Hiba was brutally abused and killed. Mahnoor was killed on 4th and Hiba was strangled to death on 17th July.
The police preliminary reports and local people statements claimed that the dead body of Mahnoor was recovered from an abandoned railway quarter located in the premises of cantonment board railway station residential quarters, while the dead body of Hiba was found in the area of cantonment board outside a mosque in Kalibari area of Saddar.
The leadership of different political parties, civil society’s representatives and community members condemned the two incidents and demanded the arrest of the killers.
The local community has also given a strong reaction over the heinous murders of minor girls and even in the case of Mahnoor murder family refused to bury the child and protested with body.
The heart-broken incidents were also discussed on the floor of the Assembly and the provincial government was also criticized for showing lackluster response towards the incidents, lawmakers also demanded answers from the police high-ups.
Police officials claimed that a thorough investigation in both cases has been launched and police finally arrested the primary accused.
Imran Takker, a child rights activist, said that the incidents of child sexual abuse have increase manifolds in the provincial capital. He said “unfortunately in the past both society and state were in denial of this major child protection issue. But now the cases have been reported and the government is also taking prompt actions to reach the victims and arrest the perpetrators”.
However, the government is required and bound to engage the community as well as other relevant stakeholders to prevent children from abuse.
He shared that child sexual abuse cases in the province have increased 93 percent in 2021 as compared with the data of 2019.
Mr Moazzam Jah Ansari has announced awards and certificates of appreciation for the teams who successfully investigated the cases and arrested the main suspect.
