Javed Iqbal Mughal (1961 – 8 October 2001) was a Pakistani

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

and

child molester Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

who confessed to the sexual abuse and murder of 100 young boys, ranging in age from 6 to 16. His victims were strangled, dismembered, and then dissolved in

acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

to destroy any evidence.

Early life

Iqbal was the sixth of eight children of his businessman father. He grew up in Lahore, attending the Government Islamia College as an intermediate student. In 1978, while still a student, he started a steel recasting business. Iqbal lived, along with boys, in a villa that his father had purchased for him in the

Alter Alter may refer to: Computing and technology * ALTER, a command in older implementations of COBOL * Alter (SQL), a command in a data definition language within SQL Music * ''Alter'' (album), 2002 album by Floater * ''Alter'', a 2006 remix alb ...

area of the city.

Murders

In December 1999, Iqbal sent a letter to the police and to a chief news editor of a Lahore newspaper, Khawar Naeem Hashmi, in which he confessed to the rape and murder of 100 vulnerable boys, all aged between 6 and 16. He wrote that he had strangled and dismembered the victims, who were mostly runaways or orphans living on the streets of Lahore, after sexually assaulting them, and had then disposed of their bodies using vats of

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungency, pungent smell. It is classified as a acid strength, strong acid. It is ...

that he later emptied into a local river. Inside Iqbal's house, police and reporters found bloodstains on the walls and floor, the chain with which Iqbal claimed to have strangled the boys, and photographs of many of his victims in plastic bags. These items were neatly labelled, with names and ages on handwritten pamphlets. Two vats of acid with partially dissolved human remains were also left for the police to find, a note claiming that the bodies in the house had deliberately not been disposed of so that authorities would find them.McGraw, Seamus. "A Letter from a Killer." ''All about Javed Iqbal''. ''

Crime Library Crime Library is a website documenting major crimes, criminals, trials, forensics, and criminal profiling from books. It was founded in 1998 and was most recently owned by truTV, a cable TV network that is part of Time Warner's Turner Broadcast ...

p. (). In his letter, Iqbal stated that, with his crimes completed, he now planned to drown himself in the

Ravi River The Ravi River is a transboundary river in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two oth ...

; however, after unsuccessfully dragging said river with nets, police launched the largest manhunt in Pakistani history. Four accomplices, teenage boys who had shared Iqbal's three-bedroom flat, were arrested in Sohawa. Within days, one of them died in police custody, a post-mortem suggesting that force had been used against him; the police said he had jumped of his own accord from a window.

Motive

Iqbal claimed that the motive for committing the murders was his anger over a perceived injustice at the hands of Lahore police: they had arrested him on charges relating to an act of

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

against a young runaway boy in the 1990s. The victim of this sexual assault had severely bludgeoned Iqbal—predominantly about the head—rendering him

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

. Though no charges were brought in relation to this offence, Iqbal's mother had "been forced to watch isdecline" before suffering a fatal heart attack. According to Iqbal's confession, his mother's death after watching his social, economic and symbolic status deteriorate following his attack and arrest had "broken a hell" over him; he therefore resolved to make 100 mothers "suffer and cry" for their sons as his late mother had been forced to for him.

Trial and sentencing

It was a month before Iqbal turned himself in at the offices of the ''

Daily Jang The ''Daily Jang'' () is an Urdu language newspaper headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. It is considered one of Pakistan's newspaper of record and a leading newspaper of Pakistan. History It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous p ...

'' on 30 December 1999. He was subsequently arrested. He stated that he had surrendered to the newspaper because he feared for his life and was concerned that the police would kill him. Iqbal was sentenced to death; the judge passed the sentence saying, "You will be strangled to death in front of the parents whose children you killed your body will then be cut into 100 pieces and put in acid, the same way you killed the children."

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Moinuddin Haider Moinuddin Haider, HI(M) (; born 5 June 1942) is a retired three-star rank general of the Pakistan Army, who later served as the Governor and Chief Minister (Chief Executive) of Sindh, and then as the Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan. He h ...

contradicted the sentence by stating that Pakistan is a signatory of the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

, so "such punishments are not allowed".

Death

On 9 October 2001, Iqbal and an accomplice, Sajid Ahmed, were found dead in their respective cells at the Kot Lakhpat Jail. The pair were officially ruled to have hanged themselves with their own walls. Autopsies revealed that they had been beaten prior to death. Iqbal's body went unclaimed.

In popular culture

A film based on the notorious serial killer titled, '' Javed Iqbal: The Untold Story of A Serial Killer'' (2023) follows the trial of Javid Iqbal. Scheduled for release on 28 January 2022, the film faced a ban from the Punjab government and the Central Board of Film Censors. It was removed from cinemas a day prior to its release due to its portrayal of the government and police. After public backlash to the banning and the support of several actors for the film, it was finally released on 2 June 2023.

References

Notes

External links

* McGraw, Seamus. . ''

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Iqbal, Javed 1961 births 2001 deaths 2001 suicides Criminals from Lahore Pakistani people convicted of child sexual abuse Pakistani people convicted of murder Pakistani people convicted of rape Pakistani murderers of children Pakistani prisoners sentenced to death Pakistani serial killers People convicted of murder by Pakistan Prisoners sentenced to death by Pakistan Serial killers who died by suicide in prison custody Suicides by hanging in Pakistan Violence against men in Asia Rape of males Incidents of violence against boys