A third-year medical student of Hamdard University was shot dead during an incident of mugging in Karachi on Thursday morning, police and her family said.

The victim, identified as 24-year-old Misbah, was sitting with her father in their car while waiting for her university's point bus near Mochi Mor in Gulshan-i-Iqbal neighbourhood when they were approached by two muggers riding a motorcycle, her uncle Kashif Ahmed told Dawn.

The robbers mugged the girl's father at gunpoint. They then proceeded to the other side of the car and opened fire, hitting Misbah near her eye, Ahmed said.

According to the victim's uncle, the robbers did not take anything away from Misbah and only mugged her father. The family are residents of Abid Town locality.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) East Amir Farooqi said it was "obvious" that the incident was a case of robbery.

He said the girl was not shot because she had resisted the robbery. Instead, one of the two robbers dropped his gun inside the car; he then picked it up and opened fire in a state of panic.

The robbers, who witnesses say were young in age, then fled the scene towards Sohrab Goth.

Another officer, Gulshan SP Shahnawaz Chachar, said that the suspects snatched a mobile phone and wallet from the girl’s father.

Misbah sustained a single bullet wound on her head, confirmed Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

One spent bullet casing fired from a 9mm pistol was recovered from the car and sent to police’s forensic science laboratory to ascertain as to whether the same weapon had been used in past crimes. Police investigators said that the killers were in their early 20s who wore shalwar kameez.

The victim’s funeral prayers were offered at a local mosque and were also attended by her varsity's students.

Meanwhile, Sindh police chief Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of the student's killing and sought a detailed report from the SSP East, a police spokesperson said.