KARACHI, Aug 31: Three months after a court cancelled the interim pre-arrest bail of a man accused of raping a young boy, the police have not managed to locate and arrest the accused man.

The counsel for the complainants, 10-year-old Faisal Arsalan and his mother Ms Bano, remarked that Syed Mohammed Zeeshan, accused of the crime, is said to enjoy the patronage of a certain political group.

First Additional District and Sessions Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon dismissed on May 21 this year a bail application submitted by Zeeshan and observed that the investigation officer (IO) had collected sufficient material to connect the accused with the commission of the crime.

Taking into consideration a doctor’s opinion on the victim’s injuries, the judge’s order stated that “in the given circumstances I found no special circumstances to confirm the interim pre-arrest bail of the applicant, hence his instant pre-arrest bail application is dismissed.”

Arsalan was examined by the Civil Hospital Karachi’s medico-legal officer, Dr Rafiq Ahmed Abbasi, on March 16, 2007. The doctor observed that the boy’s injuries were two days old and concluded that Arsalan had been subjected to “carnal intercourse/sodomy.”

The crime was committed on March 14, 2007, at around 7.30pm. According to the statement submitted by Ms Bano, she saw from her balcony that her son was crying while a man was running away from the scene in Arambagh park. Upon reaching Arsalan, she found that he was bleeding and had injuries on his face. He was taken to a private clinic for initial treatment.

FIR 141/2007 under Section 377/506-B of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered with the Preedy police station.

The vice chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust, which is providing legal assistance in the case, said that he visited in person the office of the adviser to the chief minister on home affairs and drew the official’s attention to the police’s failure to arrest Zeeshan. “The adviser personally called the station house officer and directed that the accused be arrested, but his orders have not been complied with to this day,” remarked the trust’s official.

It was later revealed that the police picked up the brother of the accused but then released him.

Despite repeated attempts, the case’s investigation officer could not be contacted. However, Dawn had earlier contacted the now defunct station investigation officer of the Preedy police station, who had expressed ignorance about the cancellation of the accused man’s bail application and said that the case’s challan had already been submitted in court.