Train gang rape: Suspects also filmed victim, investigation officer tells court

• Karachi court extends physical remand of suspects in train gang rape case.
• Investigation officer says they need to retrieve videos, recover uniforms of suspects.
  
• Police arrest five suspects in train gang rape case.

KARACHI: The accused in the Bahauddin Zakariya Express gang rape case also filmed the victim during the heinous crime, the investigation officer (IO) informed the trial court while revealing more findings of the probe, The News reported Sunday, citing local media.

A woman travelling to Karachi from Multan via a train service running under the private sector was gang-raped by two ticket checkers, their in-charge and two others, it emerged on May 30, 2022. Five suspects have so far been arrested in the case with three of them caught on just the day after the incident was reported.

During the hearing of the case on Saturday, the IO said that they need to retrieve the videos from the mobile phones of the suspects and recover their uniforms, requesting the court for an extension in the physical remand of the suspects.

Accepting the request, the court extended the physical remand of the five arrested suspects, including Muhammad Zahid, Aqib Muneer, Zohaib, Amir Raza and Abdul Hafeez.

Victim identifies two suspects

On Thursday, the victim had identified two of the suspects during an identification parade held in the court of the judicial magistrate of Karachi South.

The victim had testified in court that the two men she has identified had gang-raped her on the Zakaria Express on May 27, after which the court made the identity parade report part of the case.

Train staffers gang-rape woman in moving train

Police said that the railway staffers had allegedly gang-raped the woman when she was returning to Karachi from Multan. A case had been lodged at the City Railway police station, whereas, the victim identified two suspects during the identification parade.

It was learnt that a ticket-checker had offered a seat in the air-conditioned compartment of the train to the woman who was travelling alone in economy class and later, he and four other railway staffers gang-raped her.

According to the FIR, the incident occurred on May 27 when the victim, who hails from Karachi’s Orangi Town, boarded the train from Multan railway station for Karachi. 

The FIR stated that the woman passenger purchased an economy class ticket for Karachi and when the Bahauddin Zakariya Express reached Rohri Station, two ticket-checkers and their in-charge allegedly lured her into a trap by offering a seat in the AC bogie.

The ticket-checker, Zahid, and their in-charge, identified as Aqib, took the victim to an AC compartment of a bogie where they gang-raped her and fled.