ISLAMABAD: A young man was picked up by the capital police from Bhara Kahu area in connection with the rape and murder attempt case of a four-year-old girl after the victim identified him, Dawn has learnt.

“A female assistant commissioner recorded the statement of the girl about a week ago at a private ward of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences where she was getting medical treatment,” officials privy to the investigation said.

The girl stated that she was playing outside her house along with her brother in rain, the officials said, adding that she returned home after her brother left to buy bread for neighbours.

Quoting the girl, the officials said she went to the terrace of her house to enjoy the weather when her neighbour frightened her, saying there were demons on the terrace.

Shortly afterwards, she came down and again went outside the house where the neighbour was present, the officials quoted her, adding that later he took her to the nearby bushes where the rape and murder attempt incident took place.

Victim identified the man from photos arranged by investigators

They said that in view of the victim’s statement, the police arranged photos of five people residing in the house adjacent to the girl’s. They said that the photos were shown to the girl, but she did not accuse anyone of them.

Later, the girl’s father informed the police that seven male members were residing in the house, including a man and his five sons, the officials stated, adding that he also asked the police to bring the photo of the remaining son of the neighbours.

“It took two to three days to arrange the photo of the remaining son and when it was shown to the girl, she identified him as the culprit,” they stated. After the identification, the investigators picked up the suspect, they said.

The suspect belongs to a nine-member family – parents, six brothers and a sister – and worked with a lawyer as clerk. His father had retired as a clerk from a university.

A police officer told Dawn on condition of anonymity that it was a blind case and the investigators were waiting for the victim’s statement and after she identified the suspect he was picked up.

The family hails from Balochistan and was residing in Bhara Kahu for the last many years. On the day of the incident, his parents were away to attend a marriage ceremony.

The suspect is under investigation and police are collecting evidence against him, the officer stated, adding that his polygraph test would also be conducted.

When contacted, the victim’s father confirmed that the girl had identified the suspect and the police had arrested him.

The girl was discharged from the hospital three days ago. “She has recovered and gave her statement,” her father said.

Pims spokesman Dr Wasim Khawaja stated that the girl had been discharged. A team of specialist doctors examined her before recommending discharging her from the hospital, he added.

“Her wounds have healed and she is out of trauma,” the doctor stated, adding that she still remembered the incident and it would take time for her to completely come out of the trauma.

The girl disappeared on July 8 and later was found unconscious in the bushes at some distance from her house. She was subjected to rape and the suspect also tried to strangulate her, but she survived.

Her family took her to Polyclinic and later shifted her to Pims. The case was registered with Bhara Kahu police station under PPC 377-B (offence of sexual abuse) and 324 (attempt to commit murder) against an unidentified person in response to a complaint lodged by the girl’s father.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2019