Prime suspect arrested in minor girls’ rape, murder

Peshawar - Police have arrested the prime suspect in the rape and murder of three minor girls in the provincial capital, KP police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari said on Thursday.

Addressing a news conference, Ansari claimed that his department had a difficult time apprehending the suspected serial killer.

He said the suspect was “very cruel, cunning, and a psychopath.”

The police chief described the suspect’s method of operation, saying that he always chose Sundays to pursue his victims.

After the crime, “he had a strange habit of changing his clothes,” Moazzam continued.

The suspect worked in Peshawar as a tailor and embroiderer of women’s clothing.

The IGP said that the accused is the kind of serial killer, on whom books and movies could be made. Ansari acknowledged that it was difficult to solve the crime and it was a challenge.

He said the DNA samples had matched. “In the first two incidences of child rape and murder, we did not discover the culprit but after the third occurrence, we obtained a hint from the crime scene that led us to him,” he added.

KP IGP says accused raped and murdered three minor girls; NGO reports 477 people arrested in 360 paedophilia cases in 2021

Ansari asserted that the suspect had confessed to the killings while in detention and provided a chilling account of his horrible crimes.

According to him, the police have been under pressure to act quickly and crack the case due to the rise in child rape and murder cases in the provincial capital.

Geo-fencing was done at 10 places and call detail records of dozens of phones were also obtained during the investigations and finally the accused Sohail was arrested.

477 arrested in 360 paedophilia cases in 2021: A local NGO has reported that 477 individuals were detained by the KP police in 360 cases of child molestation in the year 2021.

A child activist said that according to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010, child abuse is punishable by death. He said the court’s decision now rests on the quality of the police investigation, prosecution, accused’s statement, and forensic results.

It merits a mention here that the KP launched EMS App the other day to ensure timely assistance to children, women, trans in case they need help.

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