Residents of Khanewal's Kabirwala tehsil protested on Wednesday against local police's alleged refusal to investigate an influential accused of raping a minor girl, DawnNewsTV reported.

The victim's family had accused a local landlord and one of his servants of kidnapping and raping the child — a grade 3 student — overnight, and then dumping her unconscious body on a farm.

The child had been brought to a local hospital in an unconscious state. She underwent treatment for three days before she was allowed to leave.

After she was discharged, the victim had been taken to the Haveli Koranga police station for the lodging of a case against the accused.

The police had initially noted down the family's complaint, in which both suspects had been named, but only named the servant as a suspect in the FIR.

According to the FIR, which was registered with the victim's mother as the complainant, the girl was kidnapped by the servant while her family slept.

Soon after the victim's mother woke up, she found the girl missing. She launched a search for her with other family members and was quoted to have said that she witnessed the servant raping the girl at the landlord's house.

Angered at the police's alleged refusal to register a case against the landlord, the girl's family and other residents of the area launched protests and demanded the immediate arrest of both the suspects.

The protesters have also appealed to the chief minister of Punjab for justice.