The Supreme Court (SC) observed on Tuesday that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police has completely failed to perform in the case of rape and murder of minor girl Asma in Mardan.
ISLAMABAD, (Pakistan Point News - 30th Jan, 2018) : The Supreme Court (SC) observed on Tuesday that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police has completely failed to perform in the case of rape and murder of minor girl Asma in Mardan. Chief Justice Saqib Nisar remarked that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police’s failure to arrest the culprit in the murder and rape of minor Aasma is reflective of the force’s incompetence. The Supreme Court was hearing its suo motu case in the rape and murder of four-year-old girl, who was found in sugarcane fields two weeks back.
The case is being heard by a three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nasir and comprising Justices Umar Ata Bandial and Ijazul Ahsan. The bench wondered why the K-P government has no forensics lab of its own to test DNA. “You have no capacity to investigate the matter, therefore, you are dependent on Punjab government,” the CJP said. “This is the total failure of KP,” he added. Justice Nisar also asked why IG KP did not appear before the court.
The court had summoned Advocate-General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as the province’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) to appear at today’s hearing. During the hearing, the Deputy Inspector-General of KP informed the Supreme Court that he expects to be provided with the forensic report in the rape and murder case of minor Aasma by today. Further probe can be carried out when we have the complete forensic report, he said.
The DIG informed the court that evidence collected from the incident site was submitted to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency, which is expected to provide the report today. Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) K-P Alam Khan Shinwari told the three-member bench that 350 people have been interrogated so far, and few suspects have been identified as well. He further added that this is a “blind case”, and evidence has yet to be gathered.
The court adjourned the hearing till February 6th. Aasma was reported missing from the Gujjar Garhi area in Mardan on January 13, and recovered dead the next day from the nearby sugarcane fields. The murderer remains at large. The Friday after the incident, the CJP took a suo motu notice of Aasma’s murder after DNA test confirmed the child was raped before she was killed. Dr Ashraf Tahir — the Director-General of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency said the DNA tests conducted on the samples obtained from the deceased’s body and the crime scene prove that the victim was sexually assaulted before her death.
One person’s DNA was found on Aasma’s body confirming the rape, the official added, noting that the next stage in the investigation would be to match the DNA samples taken from around 200 people in the case to track down the suspect. The police had also submitted its investigation report pertaining to the case to the Supreme Court. On January 26, the CJP took suo motu notice of rape and murder of a four-year-old girl found dead in a sugarcane field in Mardan on January 14.
