Karachi police on Saturday claimed to have arrested a suspected serial child molester along with his alleged accomplice.

Karachi Additional Inspector General (AIG) Azad Khan told Dawn that the two suspects were taken into custody in Surjani Town three days ago. The men were then handed over to the Tipu Sultan police as a normal case, AIG Azad said.

East Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigation Muhammad Usman Sadozai told Dawn that the man and his accomplice were arrested after a special team took action on the basis of information provided by the victims.

A special task force comprising senior police officials of the involved stations, including SP Sadozai, was formed, according to a notification dated January 6.

The SP identified the main suspect as a resident of Manzoor Colony and a mechanic by profession.

It may be mentioned that the police seemed to have unclear information about the number of victims.

While AIG Azad told Dawn that the suspect allegedly “confessed to “almost a dozen cases”, a press release issued by his office said the suspect was “involved in more than 100 [cases] of child abuse”.

On the other hand, SP Sadozai said that the suspect confessed to having raped “dozens of children”. A child was gang-raped in one case, the officer said.

He said that besides the DNA-matching cases, three victim boys had also identified the same man as their rapist.

In another case, Sadozai added, a boy had identified both men as taking him to Surjani Town on a motorcycle but letting him go when he raised a hue and cry.

‘DNA samples from 7 cases match’

SP Sadozai told Dawn that the police had received a laboratory report on at least seven “cases of sodomy involving boys” that occurred between 2020 and 2025.

The medical reports confirmed that the same person was involved in these cases, as his DNA matched the samples, the SP said.

“The story of all sodomy cases was the same,” said SP Sadozai about the seven cases that were investigated.

He explained that the suspect used to kidnap minors aged between 10 and 14 years from different parts of Karachi between 6pm and 12am.

The suspect would then take the boy on a motorcycle and subject him to criminal assault in Malir Nadi, before dropping him back at the same location where he was picked up, Sadozai elaborated.

“We are all working on this case,” he added.

Meanwhile, AIG Azad said, “DNA has been sent today and the result is awaited.”

Responding to a query, he said no case of rape with murder has surfaced during the investigation so far. “However, upon resistance, one victim boy was injured.”

The AIG further said there was no evidence as of yet that they had filmed any rape.

Asked whether they were part of a larger organised gang or acted in their individual capacity, the Karachi police head said there was “no gang involved as per our information so far”.

AIG Azad recalled that when SP Sadozai went through the latest case, he found “resemblance to previous cases” and brought the victims of those to have the man “verified physically”.

The seven first information reports (FIRs) probed as of yet were registered at the Sharafi Goth, Zaman Town, Korangi Industrial Area, Mehmoodabad and Defence police stations between 2020 and 2025.

All of the seven FIRs that have surfaced invoked Section 377 (unnatural offences against any man, woman or animal) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and were filed over the past six years, according to a January 6 order for the probe team.

One FIR each from the Defence (2025), Korangi Industrial Area (2024) and Zaman Town (2024) police stations only mentioned Section 377, while a 2020 case filed at Sharafi Goth also invoked Section 506-B (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the PPC.

A 2022 FIR registered in Defence was filed under Sections 337-A(i) (punishment of causing injury on head or face), 337-F(i) (punishment of causing skin to rupture and bleed), 337-F(vi) (punishment of fracturing and dislocating a bone), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 377 of the PPC.

Another one filed with the Defence police in 2025 invoked Sections 364 and 377, while an FIR registered last year at the Mehmoodabad police station mentioned Sections 377 and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences) of the PPC.

Child abuse unacceptable: CM Murad

In a statement on the matter, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah warned that he would not tolerate any child abuse cases.

Hailing the police efforts in arresting the suspect involved “in the abuse of over 100 children”, CM Murad termed it a “major success”.

“Only seven victims have come forward so far. The police should locate the rest of the victims as well,” the statement quoted him as saying.

The Sindh CM directed the AIG to take the case to court based on evidence and also sought progress reports on a daily basis.

“Abuse against children is unacceptable for the Sindh government,” he stated.

Asserting that the provincial government had taken “many steps” to protect children, CM Murad said there was “no space for any beast in the city”.

In his statement, AIG Azad termed the protection of children as the top priority and vowed the “strictest punishment under the law for the elements involved in such a heinous act”.

He also announced appreciation certificates and a cash reward for the police team that made the arrest.

In a statement issued by his office, Sindh IG Javed Akhtar Odho ordered that the held suspects be interrogated and all perpetrators involved be brought to justice.

Hurdles in investigation’

Regarding hurdles in the investigation of rape/sodomy cases, Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that there were two aspects of any case of sexual violence:  physical examination and evidence collection.

“If done soon after the act of violence, the physical (including private parts) examination can reveal findings,” said the police surgeon. However, the absence of such a finding will not rule out sexual violence, she highlighted.

Stressing that the collection of evidence was a strictly time-bound matter, Dr Syed explained that sodomy cases have a cut-off of 48 hours, while vaginal violence evidence collection needs to be done within three days for DNA-profiling and cross-matching.

The police surgeon noted that a third aspect that needed to be taken seriously while probing sexual violence cases was the crime-scene investigation, which would further corroborate the victim’s account.

“For effective prosecution, all three are required to be of satisfactory standard,” she suggested.

However, Dr Syed pointed out that the Anti-Rape (Investigation & Trial) Act of 2021’ further empowered the survivor by giving weight to their statement.

As per a notification dated January 6, AIG Azad had set up an investigation team under the supervision of Crime Investigation Agency’s (CIA) Deputy IG Muqaddus Haider for further investigation into the cases.

Other members of the probe team were SP Sadozai, Malir Investigation Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asif Bogio, CIA SSP Asif Raza, Korangi Investigation SP Qais Khan and South Investigation SP Syed Ali Hassan.

The probe team was directed to ensure that concrete efforts are made to identify and arrest the suspects involved in the incidents and to complete the investigation in all aspects with convincing evidence.

The team can also co-opt any officer from within the Karachi range to assist in the probe as per the city police order. The team was instructed to submit a progress report on a daily basis.

In September 2025, a judicial magistrate in Karachi recorded the confessional statement of a suspected serial rapist in six cases pertaining to sexual assaults of underage girls.

The prosecution said the suspect was arrested from Qayyumabad on September 11, when the matter came to the authorities’ attention after one of his alleged victims managed to obtain a USB drive from the suspect and took it to a video shop.

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.

Later the same month, two men in Karachi confessed before magistrates to raping a seven-year-old boy and murdering him.

Correction: This story incorrectly stated that all the alleged cases took place over the past 25 years. The timeframe is unknown, with seven of the known cases registered between 2020 and 2025. The error is regretted.