NOWSHERA: An eight-year-old girl was killed after sexual assault by an unidentified person here in Nawa Kalay area on Friday, officials said.

The child had gone missing on Thursday afternoon and her body carrying injury marks on different parts, including her head, was found in an open grave at a graveyard near Khesghi Road.

The deceased was a third grade student at a private school.

Medical superintendent of the district headquarters hospital, Nowshera, Dr Fazal Qadir, told mediapersons that autopsy of the deceased child was conducted by a women medical officer who had confirmed it to him that the deceased was raped and sodomised before being killed.

He said the body carried torture marks, adding apparently her head was hit with a big stone.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered with Nowshera Kalan police station under section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code. An official said that the provisions related to sexual assault would be incorporated in the FIR after receiving the autopsy report.

A relative of the deceased said that she had gone to a nearby house for learning Quran on Thursday afternoon, adding her female teacher asked her and another student to take some items to the residence of the teacher’s daughter.

He said the other student said when they came out of the residence of the teacher’s daughter a young boy was standing outside who asked the deceased child to accompany him as he wanted to give clothes of her father to her. Following that, he said, the child had gone missing and they searched for her till late night.

The relative of the deceased girl said that they resumed the search on Friday morning and some children spotted the body in an old grave.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2018