LAHORE: The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) police claimed to have arrested a suspect and booked him under the anti-terrorism law for allegedly assaulting several minor children, killing one on offering resistance and injuring another critically.

Sexual assault with minor boys had caused embarrassment to the police, particularly in January when a child was raped and killed in Sherakot. Police had collected DNA samples of over 170 suspects from the area, but their efforts bore no fruit, as reports released by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency later could not connect any of the suspects to the victim.

The arrest of the suspect on Friday came after another rape case surfaced in Sherakot on Thursday evening. The suspect allegedly lured an eight-year-old boy to a room of a deserted garden that he was hired to look after.

Revelation comes after he critically injures boy for resisting assault

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Investigation Syed Khurram Ali Shah claimed that the boy resisted the assault upon which the suspect slit his throat with a knife and dumped him in the fields. However, the boy survived, the DIG said, adding that his parents and relatives found him in a pool of blood and alerted police.

Police shifted the boy to the Children’s Hospital where his condition was said to be critical, the DIG said. He claimed that teams of experts had been formed who investigated the case and managed to nab the suspect. During his interrogation on Friday, the suspect confessed to have attacked the boy in a bid to kill him.

Mr Shah claimed that the suspect further told investigators he had sexually assaulted many children in the last five to six years, killing one of them in January. He also told police that one of his victims died of shock during the assault. He had then thrown his body in a deserted house. The DIG said a case had been lodged against unidentified killer (s) under sections 302, 363 and 377 of PPC.

In Thursday’s incident, the DIG said, a case was registered against the arrested suspect under sections 24, 367-A, 377 and 511 of the PPC and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. He further said CIA police teams have been dispatched to contact families of the victim children identified by the suspect.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2018