Police have arrested a suspect after a burnt body of a five-year-old girl-- who had disappeared on Friday-- was found in Karachi's Old Sabzi Mandi area on Sunday.
Five-year-old Marwah, who was kidnapped from the Old Sabzi Mandi area, was reportedly sexually assaulted before being murdered and torched, a report by Dawn newspaper quoted PIB police station SHO as saying. According to police, the body was found in a trash heap on an empty plot in the same area in the early hours of Sunday.
Following the recovery of the body, an autopsy was conducted at Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre that showed the girl was raped before she died of the head injuries. One person has been taken into custody for interrogation, the news report said.
The rape and murder of the child prompted protests by residents of the area, who blocked the Main University Road after her burial in the morning. "Some men, carrying sticks, were seen asking commuters to take alternative routes and the main road from Hasan Square to New Town was closed for traffic," reported Dawn.
Demonstrators urged Pakistanis to demand justice for the victim, recalling that in 2018 the nation had come together for six-year-old Zainab Ansari who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in Kasur.
The National Assembly has passed the Zainab Alert Bill in Jan this year. The bill will introduce an alert and recovery mechanism for missing children. The bill was tabled in October 2019, as a result of the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, Zainab Ansari, in Kasur in January 2018 that sparked nationwide protests and social media outrage.
A PTI lawmaker who attended the protest told Dawn that police have arrested a suspect whose DNA samples have been sent to a forensic lab to ascertain his involvement in the crime.
Meanwhile, the suspect arrested by police from the PIB Colony has denied his involvement in the rape-murder of the child. According to ARY News, police officials said that the accused person had been arrested from the site where the dead body of the innocent girl was found. They added that interrogation from the accused person was continued.
The media outlet reported the man was arrested by police near the garbage heap where the body of the kid was dumped.
It reported the suspect as saying that he went to the heap of garbage to look for 'scraps of panaflex and plastic sheets which he would use to cover his leaking roof'. It further reported that police were checking the mobile records of the suspect. The media outlet reported that police were also included a shopkeeper who sold biscuits to the child among the list of the witnesses.
Mansehra – December 2019
A cleric, Qari Shamsuddin, was arrested along with four others for the abuse of a young boy in a madrassa. According to reports, the boy was raped over 100 times and was even physically tortured by the assailants. The child had bruises all over his body and was even bleeding from his eyes.
Muzaffargarh – December 2019
The father of a child registered a case against a cleric of a local shrine. The child came back crying from the shrine after which the father went to register an FIR with the police under section 377 and 53 of the Penal Code.
Peshawar – December 2019
A cleric accused of abusing a child in a madrassa has been acquitted by the court on the lack of evidence. The defense said that the prosecution could not produce enough evidence through medical reports and through mobile location data.
Lahore – October 2019
Cleric Mukhtar Ahmed was arrested by the police on charges of molesting children. The cleric used to go to children’s homes to teach them Quran but was caught red-handed by the parents of a child while he was attempting to molest them.
The incident took place in the Sanda area of Lahore.
Rawalpindi – September 2019
A cleric had been accused of molesting a 12-year-old child at a madrassa, a fact that was supported by medical evidence. The FIR was registered by the victim’s father and the police even started the procedure for a DNA test to confirm.
Five-year-old Marwah, who was kidnapped from the Old Sabzi Mandi area, was reportedly sexually assaulted before being murdered and torched, a report by Dawn newspaper quoted PIB police station SHO as saying. According to police, the body was found in a trash heap on an empty plot in the same area in the early hours of Sunday.
Following the recovery of the body, an autopsy was conducted at Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre that showed the girl was raped before she died of the head injuries. One person has been taken into custody for interrogation, the news report said.
The rape and murder of the child prompted protests by residents of the area, who blocked the Main University Road after her burial in the morning. "Some men, carrying sticks, were seen asking commuters to take alternative routes and the main road from Hasan Square to New Town was closed for traffic," reported Dawn.
Demonstrators urged Pakistanis to demand justice for the victim, recalling that in 2018 the nation had come together for six-year-old Zainab Ansari who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in Kasur.
The National Assembly has passed the Zainab Alert Bill in Jan this year. The bill will introduce an alert and recovery mechanism for missing children. The bill was tabled in October 2019, as a result of the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, Zainab Ansari, in Kasur in January 2018 that sparked nationwide protests and social media outrage.
A PTI lawmaker who attended the protest told Dawn that police have arrested a suspect whose DNA samples have been sent to a forensic lab to ascertain his involvement in the crime.
Suspect denies involvement:
Meanwhile, the suspect arrested by police from the PIB Colony has denied his involvement in the rape-murder of the child. According to ARY News, police officials said that the accused person had been arrested from the site where the dead body of the innocent girl was found. They added that interrogation from the accused person was continued.
The media outlet reported the man was arrested by police near the garbage heap where the body of the kid was dumped.
It reported the suspect as saying that he went to the heap of garbage to look for 'scraps of panaflex and plastic sheets which he would use to cover his leaking roof'. It further reported that police were checking the mobile records of the suspect. The media outlet reported that police were also included a shopkeeper who sold biscuits to the child among the list of the witnesses.
Child rapes in 2019:
Mansehra – December 2019
A cleric, Qari Shamsuddin, was arrested along with four others for the abuse of a young boy in a madrassa. According to reports, the boy was raped over 100 times and was even physically tortured by the assailants. The child had bruises all over his body and was even bleeding from his eyes.
Muzaffargarh – December 2019
The father of a child registered a case against a cleric of a local shrine. The child came back crying from the shrine after which the father went to register an FIR with the police under section 377 and 53 of the Penal Code.
Peshawar – December 2019
A cleric accused of abusing a child in a madrassa has been acquitted by the court on the lack of evidence. The defense said that the prosecution could not produce enough evidence through medical reports and through mobile location data.
Lahore – October 2019
Cleric Mukhtar Ahmed was arrested by the police on charges of molesting children. The cleric used to go to children’s homes to teach them Quran but was caught red-handed by the parents of a child while he was attempting to molest them.
The incident took place in the Sanda area of Lahore.
Rawalpindi – September 2019
A cleric had been accused of molesting a 12-year-old child at a madrassa, a fact that was supported by medical evidence. The FIR was registered by the victim’s father and the police even started the procedure for a DNA test to confirm.