KARACHI: Inves­tiga­tors probing the kidnapping, rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Mang­hopir are looking for two possible suspects who were last seen roaming around the victim’s home before her disappearance, it emerged on Wednesday.

SSP Investigation (West) Akhtar Farooq said the victim had returned home from the madressah she was studying in on Monday at around 2pm. Later, she came outside the house and was playing with her two cousins when two men kidnapped her, he said.

He added that the other children were terrified after the incident.

He said the body was found on Tuesday in a tent erected on an empty plot located at a distance of about 400 metres from her house.

The investigators found a computerised national identity card from the crime scene and the police were trying to locate the person, aged around 24, said the SSP.

He also visited the crime scene on Wednesday, met the victim’s parents and talked to the children who were playing with her.

One of the children told the investigators that the two suspects were often seen in the neighbourhood.

The body of the six-year-old was found on Tuesday after her parents approached the police and informed them about her disappearance while playing in the street.

A post-mortem examination revealed that she was subjected to a sexual assault and then strangled.

Manghopir SHO Haji Sanaullah told Dawn that a case was registered on the complaint of the victim’s father, who nominated one suspect. “We are conducting raids to arrest him,” he added.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2017