Pakistan: Norwegian-Pakistani suspected of girl's rape and murder

A rapist and killer of a 7-year-old girl was arrested by the Capital Police from Islamabad Airport when he just arrived from the first Haj flight here Tuesday after performing Haj.

Shahid raped a 7-year-old girl, strangulated her and threw her body on the roof of another house of the street and left Islamabad for performing Haj," police said.

The Capital Police, however, arrested the rapist and recovered sandals and Chadar of the innocent victim after confession of the cruel crime by him. In the cruel incident, the 7-year-old, Sadia, student of a local school, was rapped and killed after kidnapping, when she was playing in a street in I/10-2 on October 25.

On the complaint of Akhtar, ill-fated father of the victim, the Sabzi Mandi Police, later, recovered the dead body of the innocent rape-victim lying on the roof of a house close to her house and sent it to PIMS for autopsy. The autopsy report confirmed her rape and killing by strangulation. The police registered the case under Section 364-A PPC.

Akhtar informed the police on November 4, about 10 days after the missing of Saadia and her body was recovered on November 24, about one month after the occurrence, when a resident informed the police that the body of a little girl was lying on the rooftop of his house, police said.

The police said that the suspect — Shahid — left for performing Haj on November 14, before the recovery of Saadia's body. "It was very difficult to cast doubt on a person who has left for performing Haj but all the evidences were heading towards the accused as the residents of the street informed about his involvement in mysterious activities," an officer involved in investigation said.

He said that the police had no option but to wait for his return after getting the date and time of his arrival. "He could have left Pakistan for good because he was keeping Norwegian nationality," he added.

"As he landed from the first Haj flight (PK-2502) at Islamabad Airport at 1.50 p.m., the police, already waiting for the 'monster', arrested him at the arrival lounge," the police said. The alleged rapist and killer later confessed his crime, disclosing that he picked up the girl from the street and later raped her in the drawing-room of his house. The SHO (Sabzi Mandi) Khalid Masood, quoting the statement of Shahid, said that he strangulated the girl with her Chadar when her condition worsened and threw her body on the roof of next house.

The police have recovered sandals of the minor victim from his house and a Chadar used for strangulating her. The police said that wife of the accused was living in Norway while he, despite having Norwegian nationality, was living alone in the house and involved in suspicious activities.

Source: The News (English). I had removed names and personal details from the article. I do find it strange that these details were even in included with no regard to the victim's or suspect's privacy, and especially as honor murders and vendettas are practiced in Pakistan, and supplying such details might induce a cycle of violence and enable people to take justice into their own hands.

Update:

The suspect is 24, and has a wife and two kids living in Norway. He had confessed to the crime in a TV interview on Pakistani TV (can be seen here, with Norwegian subtitles), although Abid Q. Raja stressed today in several interviews that in Pakistan false confessions can be extracted through coercion and torture. The suspect had been arrested when he came back from Mecca with his mother, and she was the one who alerted the rest of the family in Norway to the arrest. He risks a death sentence by hanging, if found guilty. The family in Norway hopes the Norwegian authorities would be able to help with getting a lawyer.

Source: Aftenposten (Norwegian)