The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police have arrested a suspect, who had allegedly sexually assaulted and then killed girls in Peshawar.
The police said that during investigation, the suspect, Sohail, who is aged between 25 and 30, confessed to killing two girls after raping them.
In his confession, the accused said that he raped and killed a 10-year-old girl in the Railway Colony area on July 3, raped another victim on July 17 and also killed a girl in the Kalibari area after sexually assaulting her.
An investigation team interviewed a survivor and conducted DNA tests of 100 people, besides investigating 200 residences as part of their investigation.
“Parents and victims are reluctant to lodge first information reports because they are ashamed after rape, but things are changing now to some degree and victims are coming forward to contact the police. As a result, the community and government have shown a resolve to prevent and respond to the cases of child abuse,” a children’s rights expert told a news outlet, adding that sexual abuse of minors is a harsh reality in the country.
According to the Central Police Office (CPO), 360 cases of child sexual abuse were recorded in 2021 across the province.
