Dr Shahid Masood skips JIT session held over Zainab murder case
The anchor was summoned by the team along with all the evidence.
KASUR (Dunya News) – Senior anchorperson Dr Shahid Masood has on Friday skipped session of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe rape and murder of a seven-year-old Kasur resident Zainab.
The anchor was summoned by the team along with all the evidence he has regarding arrested suspect Imran Ali.
On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has submitted a resolution in Punjab Assembly, demanding to stone child rapists to death.
Earlier, Dr Shahid said that arrested suspect in Zainab murder case was backed by a federal minister and a prominent personality.
Masood, in his show that aired late Wednesday night, alleged that Zainab’s suspected rapist and murderer was a member of an international pornography ring. He further stated that the suspect had 37 foreign currency bank accounts.
During the case hearing today, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar asked Shahid Masood to write down the names of the persons he alleged were accomplice to the crime and assured him the names would be kept secret until the investigation is complete.
Masood also presented a list of 40 bank accounts held by accused Imran Ali.
The development came days after suspect Imran Ali was arrested in connection with the rape and killing of 7-year-old Zainab. The victim was assaulted and her body thrown in a garbage dump in the city of Kasur early this month.
The guardians complained upon return that late Zainab had gone missing at least five days ago and the police did not cooperate with the relatives, who were looking for the missing minor.
Zainab had marks of torture on nose, neck, and other parts of the body – according to the autopsy. The samples collected from her clothes and body were sent to forensic laboratory.
Two people were killed in Kasur the day after Zainab’s body was recovered when police fired at hundreds of angry protesters, who said negligence on the part of the authorities was behind the repeated killings.
Later, a joint investigation team (JIT) was formed to probe the murder case that collected data of 300 mobile phone numbers and six of them were marked for further investigation. Three footages were also emerged showing a suspect roaming with the victim.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar had also taken suo motu notice of the case. During the hearing, the apex court expressed dissatisfaction over police’s investigation and said it should also use conventional methods as well instead of only depending upon DNA samples.
A total of 1,764 cases of child abuse were reported across Pakistan in the first six months of 2017, according to Sahil, an organization that works on child protection.
In 2016, the total number of reported child abuse cases was 4,139, or around 11 new cases reported per day.
Zainab’s case has emotions running high in Pakistan and the normally taboo subject of child abuse being discussed widely on local television.
