KARACHI: A court on Tuesday remanded in police custody the principal/owner of a private school after he was formally arrested in a case pertaining to his alleged involvement in rape of several women on the pretext of providing them job.

The Steel Town police had registered a case against the suspect under Sections 376 (punishment of rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (Insulting modesty or causing sexual harassment) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 25 of the Telegraph Act.

Malir SSP (Investigation) Ali Mardan Khoso told Dawn that the police launched an investigation that revealed that the suspect committed such acts all alone and there was no group or gang involved.

He said that during grilling the suspect said that none of the victim women were employed in his school in any capacity and he had “consensual relations” with them.

None of the victims worked in my school, suspect tells investigators; students to be relocated to nearby schools

On Monday, Steel Town SHO Nand Lal told Dawn that the incident surfaced when a technician, Ali Lodhi, went to the school for repairing a CCTV camera and allegedly obtained objectionable videos from the DVR. The videos were later uploaded on social media by one Shakeel — said to be Lodhi’s associate — for some ulterior motive.

However, SSP Khoso said that their exact role would be determined after a thorough probe. He said that the police had so far not detained any of the two persons for interrogation.

Malir SSP Hassan Sardar told the media that an investigation team had been established for carrying out a probe. The team also included a female inspector so that victim women could feel secure and at ease while recording their statements before the investigators, he added.

State becomes complainant

The FIR was lodged on behalf of the state on the complaint of Assistant Sub-Inspector Aftab Husain.

The complainant stated that he, along with other policemen, was performing duty in the area when they came to know about some videos that had gone viral on social media. “Special informers told us that the viral videos were of the owner of a school located in phase-II of Gulshan-i-Hadeed. In the videos, the owner was seen raping different women.”

The FIR stated that police reached the scene and took the principal/owner into custody and also seized his cell phone for investigation.

Five-member body formed by education dept

After sealing of the school in question in Gulshah-i-Hadeed, the education department on Tuesday decided that the students enrolled with that school would be given admission in other nearby schools.

On the advice of caretaker Sindh Education Minister Rana Hussain, Additional Director-Registration Rafia Javed at the Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions Sindh had been asked to oversee the process of admitting the students to other schools in the area, while paying the same monthly fees which they paid at the old school, so that their education is not disturbed.

In this regard, the official had formed a five-member committee headed by Director of Private Schools Abdul Sattar Memon and announced that the parents of the children can meet the committee members at Abdalian School in Gulshan-i-Hadeed, Phase-II at 9am on Wednesday (today).

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2023