Unresolved case of assault, murder | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Unresolved case of assault, murder

The school plot has nothing but prickly overgrown bushes in its backyard. It is unkempt and seems as if no one ventures into that area. To reach the backyard, there is an old worn out gate, which is unlocked. The only other entrance is for the main school, from the other side of the building, and that is locked. In the centre of the backyard there is a cemented single-room cabin, its purpose unknown, with its rusty shutter pulled halfway up.

“The body lay here,” says Raza, a worker in Shanti Nagar’s well known Sindhi Hotel, and he points to a place on the ground directly under the shutter. He then shows the traces of drag marks, which begin from inside the room and continue outside to where the body was found.

In an FIR lodged in the Aziz Bhatti Police Station on June 16, 2008, Jameel Ahmed stated that his eight year old brother, Shazaib (Shezi), was missing for over a day, and that the police should investigate where he could be.

A resident of Kacchi Paara, Shanti Nagar, Dalmia, eight year old ‘Shezi’, as he was known to everyone, went out to play at night. When he did not return by 10.00 pm, his family was quite worried. Jameel, and his father Manzoor, went out to search for Shezi but returned empty handed and panic stricken.

The family did not sleep the entire night, concerned about the whereabouts of the little boy.

Meanwhile, owner of a house, which was being constructed immediately opposite the girls’ school, had gone up on his roof to inspect the building process when his eye caught a seemingly lifeless body in the empty plot. Baffled and intrigued, he eventually called his neighbour, DSP Gaddap Town Ali Mohammad Khoso, and told of him of the discovery. The DSP in return called on the area police to inform them of the situation.

Shezi’s father and brother were filing the FIR at the station with SHO Inspector, Sohail when the police received the call from Khoso. “The police told us that they had located a dead body of a child, and asked us to come with them in case it was my brother,” says Shezi’s older sister, Nighat.

Upon reaching the location, Manzoor Ahmed recognised the body of his son. It was Shezi, only wearing his sky-blue Kameez, and the cord of his Shalwar wound tightly around his throat. Through a post mortem by Dr Adul Jabbar Memon, it was discovered that the child had been criminally assaulted and killed.

Shezi’s family is devastated by this tragedy. His mother cannot bear to answer any questions, by relatives or neighbours, as she suffers fits caused by the loss of her son.

Investigating Officer, Inspector Iftikhar told The News that although they were trying to investigate the case, it was difficult to pin point who exactly the culprit or culprits were.

Analysis points to a few important points which should be seriously considered during investigation. Since the child disappeared at night, he was either drugged and kidnapped or taken along by being lured.

In case Shezi was misled, he would have trusted the person deeply and went along without thinking, and anyone who must have seen them together would have bypassed the scene. Otherwise a stranger could have been watching the child play every night and had taken time to build up a relationship with him.

In any case, it remains unclear even to the police whether the child was criminally assaulted at the same spot where his body was found. In fact, it is also not evident, if Shezi was killed within the limits of the school or only dumped there afterwards. The drag marks on the sand show that the perpetrator changed his place only once. Nevertheless the police are at present treating the plot as the only scene of crime.

“We have questioned quite a few suspects and eye witnesses,” said Inspector Iftikhar. “We have identified the guards at the school, as they could have been either involved, or could have been the criminal themselves. We have also interviewed all the neighbours, and the principal of the school herself. The local councillor has extended his support in this case.”

The family seems to suspect the ‘goons’ of the neighbourhood who sit around at night, or the guard. However, they have refused to name anyone in particular, and they do not seem to base their suspicion on any sort of evidence.

Despite all on-going efforts to nab the criminal or criminals, the attacker or attackers are still at large.
Source: The News
Date:6/27/2008