KARACHI, Sept 28: A man who was being searched for in connection with the assault and rape of a young girl was apprehended late Thursday night by the residents of the area in which she lived, Masoor Colony, Mauripur, and handed over to the area police.

A 15-year-old girl, whose name is being withheld for reasons of privacy, was forcibly taken away and assaulted in the Mauripur area by three persons when she had left her house to do some shopping on Wednesday, Sept 26.

The police brought her to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) for a medical examination on Thursday night. According to police surgeon Bashir Sheikh, the inquiry officer accompanying the victim showed reluctance in divulging the case’s history. According to the medico-legal officer, Dr Rohina Hasan, the girl was accompanied by her maternal aunt who said that the crime had been the result of some enmity.

Dr Hasan told Dawn that in her opinion, the medical examination had shown that the victim was raped by more than one person. Samples of the victim’s clothing and swabs collected during the medical examination had been sent on for chemical examination, she said, and added that semen and DNA analysis could be carried out at a later stage once suspects were rounded up by the police.

According to the police, the victim has lived with her grandmother since her parents’ deaths some years ago. On the evening the crime took place, she left the house at around 10pm to buy some commodities and was abducted. Upon her failure to return home, her family raised alarm and alerted neighbours who launched a search, said a duty officer at the Mauripur police station.

A young boy who had witnessed the abduction informed the search party about what he had seen and also identified one of the kidnappers, said the police officer. The suspect was later nabbed by the area’s residents, who handed the man over to the police.

An FIR 239/07 was registered at the Mauripur police station under Section 377 (unnatural offences) and 376-b (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The police say that they have identified the man under arrest as Ali Akmal, while his two accomplices are absconding and are being actively searched for. They confirmed that Akmal was apprehended by the residents of Masoor Colony and that he had been booked in the case.

Although the medico-legal officer, Dr Rohina Hasan, who examined the victim had quoted the victim’s accompanying aunt as saying that the assault had been the result of some old enmity, the duty officer of the Mauripur police station refuted the suggestion and stated that in his opinion, the crime appeared to have been fuelled by lust.