KARACHI: The body of a minor girl, who was raped before being strangled to death, was found in the Sachal area on Friday, police and doctors said.

They said that the body of the seven-year-old girl was recovered from bushes at a desolate spot near the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Goth within the remit of the Sachal police station.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Additional Police Surgeon Dr Rohina Hasan told Dawn that the victim was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. She said that the body also bore torture marks.

She said that the girl was killed around 10-12 hours before the body was brought to the hospital at 12.10pm.

Sohrab Goth DSP Mohammad Khalid Khan said that the girl had gone missing from her residence in Abdullah Shah Ghazi Goth on July 30.

The family lodged a missing report at the Sachal police station at around 9.30pm on Thursday. The body was found on Friday morning from a ditch surrounded by bushes near Al-Azhar Garden, a residential complex.

A case was registered at the Sachal police station under Section 302 (premeditated murder), 376 (punishment of rape) and 34 (common intention).

The area DSP said that the police started carrying out raids and hoped that the culprits would be arrested soon.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015

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