The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered the Inspector General Punjab (IGP) to arrest the culprit responsible for 6-year-old Zainab's abduction, rape and murder within 36 hours.

LHC Chief Justice (CJ) Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Shaheem Pirzada to arrest the culprit, expressed surprise that despite reports of earlier incidents of similar nature from Kasur, none of the cases were brought to the court.

The CJ ordered the police to submit details of all the cases of child sexual abuse that had taken place in the area, adding that he would also demand a report on the cases from the sessions judge.

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The Inspector General of Punjab (IGP) insisted that the police "were working sincerely" to catch the criminal. He told the court that one person's DNA had been found in six cases of assault.

The CJ warned that the court would not tolerate any delay in the case, at which the IGP assured him that the culprit would be caught.

The hearing was adjourned until January 15.

On January 10, protests had erupted in Kasur after Zainab's dead body was found in a garbage heap. Autopsy reports revealed that the girl was subjected to rape, torture and was then strangled to death. Zainab's murder was the 12th such incident reported in Kasur in a year.

Kasur had made headlines in 2015 as well when it was revealed that a gang of paedophiles was busted for running a child sex ring in the city.