KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday sent 19 suspects to prison in a case pertaining to the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.

The victim had gone missing on Jan 25 from a wedding hall in Orangi Town and her body was found in an underground water tank in the hall on Jan 31. She along with her parents and a younger sister had gone to attend the marriage of her neighbours.

The police recently arrested some employees of the wedding hall and after the end of their physical remand, the investigation officer produced them in court again.

A judicial magistrate (west) sent them to prison on judicial remand and directed the IO to complete the investigation and submit a report.

The police said that an initial medical report confirmed that the victim was subjected to a sexual assault and died due to cardio-respiratory failure.

However, the report of a chemical examiner was still awaited while the DNA samples of the suspects had also been sent for analysis, they added.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2016