KARACHI: An enraged mob set on fire a marriage hall in Orangi Town on Sunday after the body of a six-year-old missing girl was found in its water tank, said police officials.

Police said Pakeeza Faiz had gone missing on Jan 26 after she attended a wedding with her parents at the marriage hall.

The family searched for her frenetically till late in the night that day and then reported her disappearance at Orangi Town police station, which converted the report into an FIR on Jan 28, said Orangi Town SHO Sabir Husain.

On Sunday, he said, police made a thorough search of the hall and peeped into the water tank where they found the girl’s body after some people smelled a stench emanating from the tank.

He said the corpse was taken out and shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a postmortem examination. The incident enraged the area people and they set the hall on fire. They also prevented a fire tender from putting out the fire when it arrived there in response to a call for help, said a fire brigade official.

Police baton charged the mob lightly and in the meantime, Pakistan Rangers personnel also arrived there to help the police control the situation. But before the fire tender had controlled the blaze, chairs and tables had completely been burnt, a fireman said.

The police officer said that “some people” associated with the marriage hall had been taken into custody for interrogation.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2016