Pakistan Today

Main suspect in Asma rape-murder case netted, KP police claim

Shamim Shahid

MARDAN: In the latest development in the four-year-old Asma’s rape and murder case, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police has claimed to arrest the main suspect, 15-year-old Mohammad Nabi who was a close relative of the minor girl.

The police high ups confirmed arresting of two accused during a press conference at Peshawar on Wednesday morning. Nabi, with his face covered, was also presented before the media.

In presence of KP Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mardan Regional Police Officer (RPO) Alam Shinwari said that arrested accused has confessed his crime.

Police have also taken into custody another individual, Fawad, suspected to be the accomplice of the main accused.

According to Mardan RPO, the 15-year old Muhammad Nabi is a close relative of deceased Asma. The accused in his confessional statement stated that he had taken Asma to a sugarcane field and tried to sexually abuse her. However, after the child cried, he strangled her to death.

The RPO stated that it was a very difficult case due to lack of proper evidence. The crime scene was 16 Kanal sugarcane field, however, the police force through scientific ways succeeded in resolving the case.

KP IGP Salah Ud Din Mehsud said that the case was resolved by tracing a drop of blood on a leaf in the sugarcane field where the minor was killed. He further added that fingerprint traces of the suspect was found on the neck of the deceased.

The only other person arrested in connection with the case was another man whose DNA matched that recovered from an artefact collected from the crime scene. However, the suspect was found to be innocent by police during an investigation and will be released soon, the police officials said.

KP IGP also expressed satisfaction over tracing of the accused involved in the killing and praised the performance of Mardan police. He also thanked the Punjab Police for extending cooperation to Mardan police in providing DNA and other laboratory tests.

He said that Asma’s parent trust in police was a great burden on him and that the police responded very positively by tracing the culprits.

KP IGP also assured early arrest of the main culprit involved in the killing of medical student Asma Raani at Kohat.

The four-year-old Asma had gone missing on January 14 in Mardan’s Gujar Garhi area, and her dead body was found from sugarcane fields near her home on January 15. Forensic testing confirmed that the child was subjected to sexual abuse before being killed.

Earlier on Tuesday,  DNA sample from one of the suspects matched the remains collected from the body of the minor girl.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government had sent the DNA samples of 145 people to the Punjab Forensics Laboratory for testing. One of these people’s DNA sample has matched the DNA remains from the deceased minor.

Following the DNA match, the Punjab government contacted KP authorities regarding the matter.

Subsequently, KP police arrested three suspects from the Gojar Ghari area, from where the victim’s body was recovered.

‘COMMENDABLE WORK BY PROFESSIONAL KP POLICE’:

Soon after the announcement of the arrest of the main suspect in Asma murder case by KP police, Imran Khan took to Twitter to congratulate the provincial police force and their professional behaviour during the investigations of the case.

In a message, he stated, “Commendable work by the professional KP police force. In the Asma case, with just one spot of blood found & no other evidence, no CCTV footage, KP police worked professionally to catch culprit showing they have developed advanced forensic detection capability as well”.

He followed that up with another Tweet, this time taking a dig at the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) provincial government in Punjab and the capabilities of other provincial police forces, stating, “Nor was there any political gloating by CM. Instead, as is done all over the democratic world, the police chief gave a professional press briefing. This is the difference between KP’s professional police force & the highly politicised & criminalised police force of Punjab & Sindh”.

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