Police register case against sexual assault culprit caught on camera in Karachi

• Sections sexual harassment, desecration a female added in FIR.
• Police fail to identify suspect despite almost a week of probe.
• Statements of people present near crime scene recorded.

KARACHI: The police on Friday registered a case against an unidentified suspect for allegedly attempting to sexually assault a veiled woman in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar area of Karachi, The News reported.

The FIR No 591/23 was registered on the state's behalf against the suspect who was caught on CCTV camera during the vile act under the Sections related to sexual harassment, desecration of a female, and committing obscene acts.

A committee headed by the Gulshan-e-Iqbal superintendent of police was formed to investigate the case after a video went viral on Monday,  showing a man attempting to sexually assault a woman who passed by him in a street of a neighbourhood in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

As the woman put up resistance, the suspect, whose face could not be identified as he was wearing a mask, fled.

The investigators, however, have not been able to identify the suspect as yet.

As per the text of FIR, ASI Fayyaz was on duty on the night of July 3 when he saw the video on his mobile phone showing the attempted sexual assault in Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block 4.

The unidentified person on a red coloured motorcycle without a registration number plate was present outside a house wearing a black T-shirt and shorts.

The video showed him running towards a veiled woman passing by the street from behind in an obscene manner.

The suspect harassed the woman, and when she resisted, he fled.

The police recorded the statements of various people near the crime scene. The investigators said they had traced the woman, but she refused to initiate legal action. 

The police, however, maintained that they would soon arrest the suspect.