ATC hands over Hyderabad child rapist-murderer to police for seven-day remand

By
Ali Naeem
|
Geo.tv/Files

HYDERABAD: The man who raped an eight-year-old girl before murdering her and her 10-year-old brother was remanded into police custody after he was presented in the court on Monday.

Usman Bengali, the man who killed the minor siblings, was handed over to the police for a seven-day investigative remand during a hearing in a special anti-terrorism court. The decision came following a request by police to approve the remand for further questioning of the accused.

Bengali was one of the two men arrested in the horrific case of rape and murder of the siblings, residents of G.O.R. Colony.

Abdul Qadir, 10, and his eight-year-old sister, Rukhsana, had gone to buy grocery items from a nearby market on July 8 but never came returned. The same night, Qadir was found brutally stabbed and injured and shifted to a hospital, where, a day later, he succumbed to his wounds.

The boy, however, had recorded a statement from his deathbed, wherein he said he and his sister had gone with a man named Usman.

Then, on July 10, Rukhsana's body was recovered from an under-construction house in Bismillah City in Hyderabad's Latifabad locality. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage had shown Bengali stepping out of the house after the minor girl's murder.

The additional inspector-general (AIG) of police for Hyderabad, Dr Ghulam Sarwar Jamali, had asked the deceased siblings' parents on Friday for another day to resolve the horrifying case of the children's rape and murder.

It is noteworthy that the deceased siblings' family has alleged the police did not take timely action.

On Sunday, social group Sindh Awami Forum had staged a protest against the horrific case of rape and murder outside the Hyderabad Press Club. The protesters had alleged that it was not only the arrested sexual predators but officers of the institution involved in delaying prompt action that should be held responsible.

Police officials and personnel involved in delaying action, as well as staff that failed to provide timely medical treatment, should also be punished, the protesters had demanded, adding that Bengali, the prime suspect, be hanged to death publicly.

Police had earlier noted that they were investigating the case with help of CCTV footage, in which both children could be seen walking away with one of the two suspects in custody, identified as Usman.