KARACHI, Jan 12: A nine-year-old girl was raped and killed on Tuesday by three men in a shanty town in Orangi Town. Police have arrested two of them and are searching for their accomplice.

According to police and family members, Palwasha, 9, and Shehla, 7, daughters of Khudadad, residents of Tauheed Colony in Mominabad police limits, went to buy bread from a nearby oven (tandoor). Shehla returned with a bread (Nan) and Palwasha remained there as the bread was being baked.

Khudadad, a pushcart biryani-seller, returned home at around 2pm and asked his wife for lunch. She told him that Palwasha had gone to buy bread and had not returned. He went to search for his daughter to the tandoor where Azeemuddin, the bread-seller told him that she had gone back her home. Khudadad told the police that he went back and inquired about the girl but his wife told him that she had still not returned.

Khudadad searched for her till the evening and informed his neighbours and the area police. He again went to Azeemuddin and asked about the girl, where an exchange of hot words took place and people beat Azeem.

Some of them entered the adjacent house and found a cloth which Palwasha had taken for bread. Khudadad recognized the cloth and they searched for the girl. As they removed a pile of burning wood (meant for tandoor), they found a gunny bag. They opened it and found the partially charred body of Palwasha.

The people informed the police, who sent the body for post-mortem examination to a hospital and took Azeemuddin into custody. The town investigation officer DSP Shakeel Awan said that Azeem informed the police that he sent the girl inside to fetch a glass of water.

As the girl went inside, he went after her and and raped her. His accomplices Jamil, co-worker, and Abdul Jabbar, owner of tandoor, also raped the girl and thereafter they strangled her. They put her in a gunny bag and hid the body for subsequent disposal at a suitable time, the DSP said.

The police raided a place in Orangi Town and arrested Jamil on a lead given by Azeem. However, Abdul Jabbar, who took the Oven (tandoor) on rent, ran away. He belongs to Abottabad and a police team will be sent to locate him, the police said.

Khudadad, father of four daughters and two sons, while talking to reporters appealed to the higher authorities to give the culprits exemplary punishment and do justice with him.