New CCTV footage shows Zainab being led away by ‘suspect’

KASUR: Punjab Police on Monday released a new CCTV footage which shows the seven-year old rape-slay victim Zainab being led by the “suspect”, ARY News reported.

The footage is the third such video released after the brutal rape and murder of seven year old Zainab Ansari in Punjab’s Kasur city, an incident which shook the whole nation and is being investigated by a Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

The fresh footage shows Zainab being led by the prime suspect in the case pertaining to the rape and murder of the seven-year old girl.

The footage starts with Zainab standing at a side as the suspect comes forward and signals her to come with him. The footage indicates that Zainab perhaps knew the suspect well before January 4, the day she was kidnapped.

It is pertinent to note here that Zainab’s father, in an interview with ARY News, revealed that Zainab left home with her cousin on the day she was kidnapped.

Zainab’s father Ameen Ansari revealed that the girl was with her cousin on her way to attend Quran class at her aunt’s home but as her cousin went inside, she stayed outside for some reason.

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Zainab was with her cousin the day she was kidnapped, says father

“When she did not come inside (her aunt’s house), they looked for her outside but Zainab was nowhere,” Ameen Ansari had said.

In the previous two videos released in connection with the case, the first one shows Zainab going with her suspected killer while the other one shows a man roaming around her house at around 5:26 PM on January 4.

The Lahore High Court bench hearing the case was told by Punjab’s Forensic Science Agency that the DNA tests confirmed that Zainab was raped and murdered by the same serial killer who was responsible for other similar cases in Kasur.

#JusticeForZainab

Kidnapped on January 4 and found from a garbage heap on January 9, Zainab’s autopsy report suggested that the minor was sexually assaulted before being strangulated to death.

Justice For Zainab: 7-year-old’s rape, murder shakes Pakistan

The girl’s rape and murder sparked outrage among the residents of the city and whole of Pakistan with social activists and general public starting a trend #JusticeForZainab on social media.

Zainab’s parents were performing Umrah when the incident occurred, as they landed back in Pakistan, they demanded justice from Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

Later, the COAS issued a message for support for Zainab’s parents while Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) took suo motu notice of the incident and ordered the police to present an inquiry report within 24 hours.

‘Police only had tea and oranges’

Relatives and people of the had area had told ARY News at the girl’s funeral that police neither cooperated with the neighbourhood teams formed to find Zainab nor acted promptly when provided with “proofs” by the girl’s family.

Residents of the area, who claimed to have formed vigilance teams to find Zainab, claimed that police only enjoyed “oranges and tea” in the neighbourhood and didn’t even cooperate with the vigilance teams.