KARACHI: A minor girl was raped and murdered on the outskirts of the city, officials said on Friday.

Bin Qasim SHO Arif Razzak said that the trussed-up body of the 10-year-old girl was recovered in the overhead water tank of a building in Marshal Yard, Railway Colony late on Thursday night.

The girl had gone missing at around 6pm on the same day, but the family did not lodge a report about her disappearance at the police station concerned.

The relatives started a search on their own and found the body inside the water tank on the building’s third floor, where no one lived.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors confirmed that she was raped and strangled, the area SHO said.

“Police have detained 16 persons for questioning,” said Malir SSP Irfan Bahadur. All detained persons were taken to the JPMC to get their DNA samples for testing.

They were living in the same building from where the girl’s body was found.

The incident sparked a protest as relatives and area residents took the coffin to main National Highway near Ghaghar Phatak and blocked the main artery. They demanded immediate arrest of the killers.

Sindh Minister Shehla Raza and Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Mohammed Sajid Jokhio also joined the protest.

The protest caused a traffic jam on the highway, which links the city to upcountry.

After getting assurances from the PPP leaders, the protesters ended their sit-in and took the body for burial in their hometown, Qambar.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Inspector General of Police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of the incident and directed the police authorities to submit a report and ensure immediate arrest of those involved in the heinous crime.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2019