7
ISLAMABAD: Top government officials have reason to believe that one suspect is behind the rape and murder of Zainab in Kasur and that he is linked with similar assaults on eight other minor girls over the past two years in the district.
“This is the job of a serial killer. The pattern of abduction, rape and killing of Zainab Ameen is similar to the ordeal the eight other girls had gone through before. We have several leads and will arrest the suspect soon,” the additional chief secretary of Punjab, Umar Rasool, assured the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights.
Besides the additional chief secretary, additional inspector general (AIG) of police, deputy commissioner and district police officer (DPO) of Kasur and officials of the Ministry of Human Rights briefed the committee which met on Thursday to discuss the Zainab murder case.
The killing of six-year-old Zainab hit the headlines last week when her body was found in a rubbish heap near her home in Kasur city.
Officials assure NA panel suspect will be caught soon
Mr Rasool informed the committee about how the victim was reported missing on Jan 4 and her body found four days later. He said that after the door-to-door search, raids and interrogating some 1,500 individuals, all evidence — including CCTV footage — had been sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency to ascertain the identity of the serial killer.
After the formation of a joint investigation team comprising officials of the police, an intelligence agency and the Special Branch, DNA samples of 432 suspects had been secured, Mr Rasool said.
Responding to questions by members of the committee as to how soon the suspect in the Zainab murder case would be arrested, AIG Abubakar Khuda Bakhsh did not make a promise.
“We have several leads. We cannot exercise the traditional methods of police torture to extort confessions. Arrest will be made based on scientific and technical evidence, including DNA comparisons. We would like to assure the committee that everybody is trying to arrest the suspect,” the AIG said.
He informed the committee that the DNA testing was introduced in 2004 in the Punjab University. One DNA test costs between Rs60,000 and Rs70,000 and the final results could take a few days.
In response to a question by the committee chairman, Babar Nawaz Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, about the progress in the Zainab case, Kasur DPO Abdul Quddus said that 500 DNA samples had been collected over the past three to four days.
All intelligence agencies were working to find the suspect, he added.
Some members of the committee criticised the Punjab government for poor security measures in Kasur, the city which has witnessed many cases of assaults on minor boys and girls.
Mr Rasool informed the committee that the plan to install 450 security cameras had already been approved by the Punjab chief minister on an emergency basis.
The committee chairman deplored that the Punjab government waited too long to take security measures.
After an hour or so of discussion on the case, the chairman suspended the meeting which coincided with the ongoing session of the National Assembly. Some members protested because their questions were not taken.
Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018
