MANDI BAHAUDDIN: Police in Punjab’s Hafizabad district said on Saturday they have arrested one of the suspects for the alleged rape and kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl.

The arrested suspect was named in a first information report (FIR) registered by the Jalalpur Bhattian police on April 30 on the complaint of the victim’s mother. The FIR also nominated two unidentified suspects.

Constable Waqar Yousuf, a spokesperson for Hafizabad Police, told Dawn that the prime suspect was arrested last night in the district’s Tahli Goraya village.

Yousuf further said that the girl’s medical examination had been conducted, which provided evidence of sexual assault. The policeman added that the detained man was being interrogated in order to arrest the other two suspects.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, invoked sections 375-A (rape) and 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel for marriage etc) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

In her complaint, the mother said she found her daughter crying outside her school in Jalalpur Bhattian when she went there to give her breakfast.

According to the FIR, upon inquiring, the daughter told her mother that when she left for school, two unknown men on a motorcycle approached her and forcibly took her to a house in Alampura.

At the house, the arrested suspect subjected the girl to rape, while the two unidentified suspects patrolled outside the room, the FIR quoted the victim as saying. The suspects later dropped the girl off outside her school, the complaint added. Subsequently, the mother sought legal action against the suspects.

According to a report issued by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) in 2024, the national level conviction rate of rape stood at a mere 0.5 per cent.

On Tuesday, police in Vehari district booked a farm owner on the charge of attempting to rape a girl. Earlier this month, a man in Okara was convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) along with a fine.

MANDI BAHAUDDIN: A suspect wanted in the kidnapping and murder of a six-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday after allegedly coming under fire from his own accomplice during an “encounter” with police in Chak Sabu, Pindi Bhattian tehsil of Hafizabad district, officials said.

Hafizabad police spokesperson Head Constable Waqar Yousaf told Dawn that the body of the missing child was recovered from nearby fields during a search operation. It was taken into custody and shifted to a hospital for post-mortem examination, while legal proceedings were initiated.

Pindi Bhattian Saddar police registered a first information report (FIR), dated April 28, a copy of which was seen by Dawn, on the complaint of the victim’s father. It invoked Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and 302 (intentional murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The spokesperson further stated that initial investigations identified the suspect as 40-year-old Zafar Hashmat, a resident of Faisalabad who had recently arrived in Pindi Bhattian and was working there temporarily as a labourer.

Subsequently, a special team was formed under the supervision of the Pindi Bhattian sub-divisional police officer to arrest the other suspects, and roadblocks were established in the area.

In another FIR dated April 29, a copy of which was seen by Dawn, the Pindi Bhattian Saddar police claimed that the main suspect was killed by “his own accomplice’s firing”.

The second FIR was registered after the suspect’s death.

“A motorcycle carrying two suspects was seen speeding along a river embankment, where it was intercepted by a police mobile. Upon noticing the police presence, the suspects attempted to turn back but lost control and fell. The suspects then opened fire on the police party,” the FIR read. It further stated that the “police returned fire in self-defence, after which the exchange of fire continued for some time”.

“One suspect managed to escape on the motorcycle under the cover of darkness,” it said, adding that the other suspect, who was wanted in the murder and kidnapping case, was “later found dead, struck by fire by his own accomplice”.

The FIR invoked sections 302, 324 (attempt to commit qatl-i-amd), 186 (obstructing public servant in the discharge of his public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duties), 34 (common intention) of the PPC, and the Punjab Arms Amendment Ordinance 2015.

On Tuesday, nine suspects — including six in Lahore — were killed in separate encounters with the Crime Control Department (CCD) in various parts of Punjab.

Last year, one of the four suspects involved in the gang rape of a married woman in the presence of her husband was allegedly killed by firing of his own accomplices during an “encounter” with the Crime Control Department (CCD) in Hafizabad district.