BAHAWALNAGAR: The elder brother of a minor boy turned out to be his rapist-cum-murderer at village Muhammadpur Sansaran in the Ghumandpur police area.

Police arrested the suspect who was allegedly a serial rapist.

Investigating Officer Shehzad Ishfaq told Dawn that on Sept 2, the body of the seven-year-old boywas found in a street adjacent to a landlord`s outhouse in the village. He was raped before murder.

The IO said police were unable to find any clue despite interrogating dozens of suspicious people in the area. When police decided to investigate the child`s family members, they noticed discomfort of the victim`s 19-year-old brother and 25-year-old brother-in-law while recording their statements.

The investigators took both of them to the police station for interrogation where they confessed the main suspect had murdered his minor brother after rape at the emptyouthouse of the landlord.

The suspect had thrown the body into the street with the connivance of his brother-in-law.

The suspect, during the investigation, revealed that on the day of the incident, he had used aphrodisiacs and was going to rape a teenage boy from the village who he had been abusing since long.

However, despite his efforts, he could not find the boy. When he returned home he saw his minor brother in the street and took him to the empty outhouse where he subjected him to rape. During the rape, the victim started screaming and the sus-pect strangled him.

Police claimed that the suspect was a serial rapist who had been caught redhanded while raping cattle and pets in the area. They said the suspect admitted to raping several other minors by luring with money or forcing them.

The suspect told the investigators that he often lured the minors with money he found on the streets and they would also remain silent for fear of threats.

IO Ishaq said the victim`s brother-in-law had also been booked and arrested on charges of concealment of facts and abetting the crime.