KARACHI, March 20: Police on Thursday formally arrested an assistant manager (security) of the Mazar-i-Quaid in connection with the gang-rape of a young woman inside the mausoleum.
The 18-year-old woman was subjected to rape after being kidnapped on the premises of the Mazar by unknown men on the night of March 15. She was found in a precarious condition at the gate of the mausoleum in the early hours of March 17.
Subsequently, police registered a case under Section 365/B of the Pakistan Penal Code. The section was inserted in the PPC through the Protection of Women Act 2006.
The investigation officer of the Brigade police station told Dawn that Syed Khadim Shah, assistant manager of the security force, was arrested on Thursday following positive identification by the woman in the morning.
A day earlier she had pointed her finger at the same man, but got confused when asked if she was hundred per cent sure about the identity of the suspect.
A senior police officer said the girl was still not out of the hangover of the opiate administered to her. However, on Thursday morning she was much better and positively identified the suspect following which police fulfilled the legal formalities of his arrest.
The police will produce the suspect in court on Saturday to get his physical remand for investigation, the IO said.
He said the suspect retired from the Pakistan Navy as a petty officer in 1992, adding that Syed Khadim Shah was hired as an assistant manager two and a half months back in the security force of the Mazar on the recommendation of a former legislator of the Sindh Assembly, Syed Amjad Husain Shah.
The security of the mazar was in the hands of a retired major, who commanded about 70 security guards, the IO said.
Sources close to the investigation officer said that information given by the arrested suspect indicated that four suspects took part in the rape. They were believed to have been picked up by police for questioning.
The young victim was shifted to the women’s police station in protective custody on Thursday as she felt insecure after identifying the suspected criminal.
Source: Dawn
Date:3/21/2008
