KARACHI: An academic highlighted the importance of forensics, ballistics, fingerprints, etc, in the investigations of cases of sexual violence at a training programme organised for the officials of the newly established Special Sexual Offences Investigation Unit (SSOIU) on Saturday.

The session was held at the Central Police Office and Cambridge University Associate Professor Dr Susan Gurney gave online training to the officers with special reference to the case of American serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy.

The professor pointed out that Bundy had killed at least one woman a month between January 1974 and June 1975 across the US, including Washington, Colorado, Utah and Florida. He had confessed to have killed at least 35 women but he thought he murdered many more.

Gender-Based Crime and Human Rights official Assistant Inspector General Shahla Qureshi told Dawn that they studied the case of Ted Bundy, whose victim were women aged between 20 and 30 years.

Different tactics like forensics and biting marks on the body of the victims helped investigators to arrest the rapist. His mask and kit were recovered by traffic police from his car which the rapist used to wear while committing the heinous crimes that also helped the investigators, she said, adding that Dr Gurney shared tips and techniques of investigation with police officers to unearth facts in cases of sexual violence.

Speaking on the occasion, DIG-Crimes Amir Farooqi on this occasion said that with effective and better investigation and presentation of a solid challan, conviction rate had increased.

DIG-Investigation Zulfiqar Ali Mahar said that different training programmes had been launched across Sindh for capacity building of police. He said in the first phase, the officers were being trained in all aspects of crime investigation techniques.

Fauzia Tariq and former IGP Niaz Ahmed Siddiki also spoke.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2024