A policeman was arrested in Karachi over charges of killing a seven-year-old girl after it was found that the stray bullet that led to her death was fired from his licensed pistol, police officials said on Wednesday.

“The police have arrested the constable responsible, Waseem Saiful Maluk,” said Saeedabad SHO Arz Muhammad.

The officer said that Maluk is posted with the Ittehad Town police and lives near the school in Saeedabad where the incident took place.

Maluk told investigators during the initial probe that he was cleaning his pistol at home on Friday when it accidentally went off.

At the time, the girl was playing in the school's playground with other children. All of a sudden, from an unknown direction, the bullet pierced her shoulder, said SHO Mohammed.

She was initially taken to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital and later to the National Institute of Child Health, where she succumbed to her injuries during treatment on Sunday, added the officer.

The SHO said that the police had registered a murder case against unidentified suspects on the complaint of the victim’s father, Saleem.

Meanwhile, Karachi Additional Inspector General of Police Dr Ameer Ahmed Sheikh while speaking to the media said that there was a need for all stakeholders in the case to determine why incidents involving stray bullets had become rampant.

The city police chief said that this incident would be made a test case.

The incident comes less than two months after 10-year-old Amal Umer lost her life because of a bullet fired by a policeman in the Defence area on the night of Aug 13 during an alleged shootout with suspected street criminals.