KASUR: Law-enforcement agencies have yet to make any breakthrough in their search for clues leading to the arrest of the rapist(s) and killer(s) of the girl, whose body was recovered on Jan 9 from a heap of trash in the city.

Police believe the suspect has assaulted nine girls, ages five to 10 years, and killed seven of them.

The two girls, who survived the attack, have been put under enhanced security. In the last one year, 13 minors have been killed after being abused in Kasur city.

District Police Officer Zahid Ali Marwat says sexual abuse and killing of minors occur in other districts of Punjab but the incidents in Kasur pose a challenge to the police.

He said they had examined 20 video footages, and of them, only footage, where the minor girl was seen walking with the suspect, was real.

A police official, who is part of the joint investigation team (JIT), requesting anonymity, said the suspect had targeted the children of the families with the strong social background which triggered public outcry.

Some police officials said in all cases, the suspected killer(s) had left the belongings of the deceased children with their bodies in a careful manner, which suggested they did not want to eliminate the evidence.

In the case of the last six-year-old girl’s killing, officials of eight police stations had been deployed to search and rescue her soon after her disappearance on Jan 4. On Jan 9, a police constable discovered her body at about 1pm that was thrown a few hours ago.

The place where the body was left is surrounded by buildings on the busiest road of Kasur – Shahbaz Khan Road.

The autopsy report shows she was killed three or four days back; it means the suspect(s) kept the body with them for days. The bodies of all the children were found either in under-construction houses or piles of trash near their houses between 5pm and 8pm.

An investigator said the footage revealed that the culprit was fearless sort of person and walked with confidence.

Another policeman said the JIT had started collecting data on the people expelled from police or sensitive agencies as the suspect in the footage seemed a person of strong nerves.

The police also received chemical examination reports from the Punjab Scientific Forensic Agency which confirmed the girl was assaulted.

According to the DNA report, the age of the suspected killer is between 22 and 40 years.

Medical Officer Dr Quratul Ain, who conducted the autopsy, said she had conducted autopsies of four other children and that pattern of killing in all the cases was same.

Also, a man, seen in a video footage roaming in the girl’s street, turned himself into the police and pleaded his innocence. He was released after necessary interrogation.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018