SUKKUR: The Sukkur Anti-Terrorism Court on Tuesday sentenced two accused to life imprisonment after they were found guilty of killing a seven-year-old boy after subjecting him to sexual assault in the Old city area of Sukkur about two years ago.

The body of the boy, Zubair Ahmed, was fished out from a section of the Indus River a few days after he was killed. His trussed up body was found tied with a heavy stone when the area police recovered it. The victim’s father, Abdul Aziz Mahar, a resident of Waspur Mohalla, had lodge the complaint of Zubair’s kidnapping at the C-Section police station, Old Sukkur.

During the course of the investigation, Punhal Datar Dino and Majid Ali Mirani were arrested and the boy’s body was recovered by the police.

Advocate Hadi Bukhsh Bhatt appeared in the Sukkur ATC for the aggrieved side and successfully pleaded its case.

Pronouncing its verdict, the ATC judge said that the evidence produced in court satisfied him that the Punhal and Majid kidnapped Zubair Ahmed, sexually assaulted and killed him and tied his body with a heavy stone before throwing it into the Indus near the abandoned power station in the Old Sukkur area.

The judge sentenced both the accused to life imprisonment.

Two girls ‘rescued’ from being raped

DADU: An excise police official and manager of a private rest house were arrested after a raiding party of the Sehwan police “rescued” two young girls, aged 12 and 13, from being criminally assaulted. SHO of the City police station of Sehwan Zulifiqar Odho produced Mumtaz Soomro, an inspector in the excise police at Dadu, and the two girls before a judicial magistrate. The suspects were remanded in police custody for three days.

An FIR against Soomro was registered for allegedly taking the two girls, who are cousins and students of class VII and VIII at a government school of Dadu, to the rest house with intention to rape them. The police also sealed the rest house.

Meer Hasan Jamali and Sajjad Jamali, the owner and manager of the rest house, respectively, were booked under a separate FIR in which they have been charged with providing accommodation to Soomro for his criminal activities. Sajjad Jamali was taken into custody for interrogation.

The judicial magistrate also recorded the “rescued” girls’ statements before allowing the police to hand them over to their parents.

According to SHO Odho, Soomro and the girls lived in the same neighbourhood. He quoted the girls as telling him that Soomro lured the children to the rest house on the pretext of taking them to the Qalandar shrine in Sehwan.

Registration of FIR ordered

MIRPURKHAS: The Mirupur­khas district and sessions court on Tuesday ordered registration of a case at the Jhuddo police station against five suspects, said to be belonging to some influential families of the area, for allegedly attempting to sexually assault a 14-year old girl.

The victim’s parents filed an application stating that she had gone to get water from a nearby pond when the suspect caught hold of her on the way one week ago. They said the suspects tore off her clothes during their abortive attempt to sexually assault her but on her hue and cry the people present at some distance rushed to rescue her. The girl’s parents said they tried to lodge a complaint at the Jhuddo police station but the SHO concerned did not oblige them because the suspects belonged to influential families.

The girl also narrated her ordeal in court.

The court ordered registration of an FIR on the complaint of the victim’s parents and departmental action against the SHO.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2018