Karachi man who sexually assaulted, sold women on pretext of jobs still in the wind

By
Zeeshan Shah
|
Geo.tv/Illustration

KARACHI: A man and his accomplices who allegedly kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and sold two women on the pretext of offering them jobs were identified by police on Monday but all of them still remain in the wind.

Police have yet to arrest the three suspects involved in the crime.

Last year, in December, a woman named Sofia and two others — including a man named Israr Abbasi and his wife, Anam — visited the home of Israr Hussain, a labourer residing in Qayyumabad.

The three offered jobs as domestic help in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), an upscale neighbourhood in the metropolis, and took with them Israr Hussain's two daughters. They also paid the family an advance salary of Rs20,000 in the start.

One of the girls, now recovered, told Geo News that the suspects "made us work for a day and, on the second day, forced us to perform inappropriate activities.

"Then Anam forced me to wear revealing clothes and took pictures of me," she said.

Further, suspect Israr Abbasi claimed that he was an official of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), intimidated the poor family, and did not allow the sisters to meet their parents for six months.

According to the girl, Israr Abbasi and Anam sold her elder sister to an Afghan national in Sohrab Goth for Rs0.3 million and also forced her into prostitution.

The girl’s family kept visiting the police but there was no response.

The girl's maternal uncle, Imran, said: “Zahida received a call on 26th and was told [by one of the daughters] that she was living in Sohrab Goth.

"Then we went to Madina Colony police station and filed an FIR [first information report], whereafter police conducted a raid, recovered the girl, and arrested the suspect.

"Then, on July 5, Shabina called her father and told him she was being kept in a house in Defence," he added.

On the other hand, the PTI's information secretary for Karachi, Adil Ansari, explained that while Israr Abbasi was an official in the past, he did not have any position in the party now.

"He has not even appeared in the party’s activities for the past five years," Ansari said.

The three suspects — Israr Abbasi, Anam, and Sofia — were absconding, as of reporting time.

The girls’ family, on the other hand, demanded the suspects be arrested and given the strictest of punishments "so that no one else can destroy another family in the future".