The main suspect in the rape and murder of a 4-year-old girl in Mardan recorded his confession in front of a judge on Monday.

The 15-year-old suspect is accused of murdering the young girl after subjecting her to sexual assault.

According to the police, the suspect, a daily wage labourer at a hotel, is a relative of the victim who lived on the same street as her.

The teenager took the child to a sugarcane field near her house when a wedding ceremony was underway in the area on January 13. Her body was found in the fields the next day.

The suspect was arrested on Feb 7 after his DNA specimen matched the blood sample collected from the field.

After the accused's confession was recorded in court on Monday, he was sent to jail on judicial remand.

The KP police had sought help from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) which issued its report on the DNA samples the day before the suspect's arrest.

The Supreme Court has also taken suo motu notice of the Mardan case. During a previous hearing of the case, prior to the suspect's arrest, the court had taken the KP police force to task over its 'less than exemplary' performance in tracking down the suspect[s] and solving the case.