SUKKUR/HYDER­ABAD: An alleged rapist was arrested on Wednesday with the help of a decoy and a hunt for two other suspects was under way, Kashmore police said on Thursday.

The main suspect was trapped and arrested after a woman, said to be a beggar, lodged a complaint at the Kashmore police station against him and his associates, claiming they assaulted her. She stated that she was made to come to Kashmore from Karachi on the promise of some gainful work.

According to the woman, she arrived in the city on October 25 along with her four/five-year-old daughter and met the main suspect, who took her to his village where his friend and an unknown person were already present. She claimed that the suspects subjected her to rape over the next two days.

“Later, they kept my daughter in their custody and asked me to go back to Karachi and bring some other woman. They gave me some money as travel expenses and said they will restore my daughter to me only when I will do as directed,” she said. The woman lodged her complaint at the police station on Nov 10 after which police moved into action.

On Thursday, Kashmore SSP Amjad Ali Shaikh said that the police incorporated Section 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 and Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in the FIR originally registered under Sections 376, 344, 420 and 34 of PPC and the main suspect was accused of subjecting both, the woman and her minor daughter, to criminal assault.

To arrest the main suspect and rescue the child, Kashmore police set up a trap by using a decoy, said to be daughter of an ASI posted at the same police station. The complainant along with the ASI’s daughter contacted the main suspect over phone and invited him to a hotel. When he visited them, police in civvies caught him and on his lead, they recovered the child from a private premises. The young girl’s initial examination in Kashmore confirmed that she was molested, the SSP said.

It was learnt on Thursday that the beggar woman came across the main suspect at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi. He offered her help in finding a better place at Kashmore toll plaza for seeking alms.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2020