KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday extended the police remand of the suspected serial rapist for a further three days in cases pertaining to the sexual assault of minor girls.

Investigating Officer (IO) Sajjad Ali brought the suspect, under tight security with his face covered with a chador, before Judicial Magistrate (South) Sagar Khan Abro after the completion of his initial remand.

The rape survivors and their parents were also present within the court premises.

The IO stated in court that the suspect had been nominated in at least six rape cases and had allegedly confessed to the crime before the police.

Statements of minor survivors to be recorded today

He added that the suspect’s custody was required to record the statements of the minor girl survivors under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before the magistrate concerned.

Meanwhile, another IO, Sohaib, informed the court that a separate case had been registered against the suspect at the Defence police station under Section 11/3 of the Sindh Information of Temporary Residents Act.

The officer said the police had raided a rented house where the suspect was living and found that he had been residing there without any tenancy agreement, which constituted an offence under the Act.

He added that a case had also been lodged against the house owner, who had yet to be arrested.

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After hearing both IOs and the state prosecutor, the court extended the physical custody of the suspect for a further three days and directed that he be produced at the next hearing.

It is pertinent to mention that after obtaining the suspect’s physical custody, IO Sajjad moved an application before Judicial Magistrate (South) Kalsoom Mustafa Sahto, seeking permission to record the statements of four survivor girls.

The court allowed the application and fixed Thursday (today) for recording the statements, which are to be recorded in the presence of the suspect.

According to police, the suspect came to Qayyumabad in 2016 and started luring and trapping children around 2019. He first opened a grocery shop, and then a juice cart.

The police said that the matter came to the authorities’ attention after one of his alleged victims managed to obtain a USB drive from the suspect. The victim then took the USB to a video shop for the purpose of downloading music onto it, but the shop owner detected the presence of explicit content on the drive and informed area residents, who apprehended the suspect and beat him up before handing him over to the police.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2025