KASUR: There is a palpable sense of fear and anxiety among people in Kasur as police have failed to find any clue to the perpetrator in Zainab’s rape-murder case.

The law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) claim that they have arrested many suspects and widened the scope of investigation but people from various callings have expressed distrust of police since the grisly incident took place.

Deputy Commissioner Saira Omar on Saturday held a meeting with the owners of private schools and assured them that they would make all possible efforts to track down the perpetrator.

Education officer’s warning riles owners of school

Much to the annoyance of the owners of schools and social circles, Chief Executive Officer (Education) Zulfiqar Ahmed warned them that any school whose students would take to the street to protest the killing of Zainab would end up losing its registration.

The All-Pakistan Private Schools Association office-bearers including Tanvir Shahid and Ghulam Murtaza Baig said Zainab was a student of a private school and they had every reason to mourn and condemn her killing. The private schools’ owners also took exception to the CEO’s attitude and announced that they would hold a meeting on Monday (tomorrow) to come up with an appropriate course of action.

The deputy commissioner, however, tried to make amends by claiming that the message conveyed to the private schools was in good faith because “it’s not wise to expose children to any risk by allowing them on roads”. She said the purpose of meeting the private schools’ owners was to seek their input on security and other matters.

Separately, the DSPs Saddar and City also held meetings with the representatives of the private schools in police stations of their jurisdictions and asked them to observe security protocols.

District Police Officer Zahid Khan Marwat took a round of various markets in the city and assured the traders and other people he came across that the perpetrators would be arrested very soon. The DPO had also taken people into confidence about the progress in the case during his visit to Noor Masjid on Friday – a day when students of a private school in school uniform participated in a protest at the site from where the body of Zainab was recovered.

According to a police official, the investigators are still focusing on the residents of Kasur city and have interrogated more than 1,500 people so far besides having DNA tests of an upward of 600 people.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2018