KARACHI, Sept 6: A minor rape victim admitted to the Civil Hospital, Karachi, a week ago, is still in a serious condition and the police have sent a team to Shah Noorani in Balochistan to arrest the alleged rapist.

The four-year-old girl was taken from a shantytown in North Nazimabad on Aug 30 to the CHK where she was admitted for treatment. The police were earlier not convinced that it was a rape and torture case, but on the basis of the contradictory statements given by some family members of the victim and the remarks on the medico-legal report confirming the rape, they had to change their earlier stand.

The police official investigating the case said that police got information that the alleged rapist, Kamran, was in Shah Noorani. “We have sent a team to arrest him and hopefully will bring him by tomorrow,” he added.

The girl was allegedly raped by Kamran, the husband of her elder sister. Kamran “adopted” the girl on Aug 14 from his mother-in-law and told her that he would bring up the child as his daughter. Later the mother of the girl came to know that the girl was seriously injured.

According to the medico-legal report (No C.3948), the doctor was of the opinion that an act of sexual intercourse had been performed with the girl. It stated that the external genital parts carried bruises and the hymen was torn and the infection extended towards the lower parts. Multiple infected wounds were found on the face and abdomen. Multiple burn marks, infected in nature, were found on the chest, neck, and abdomen probably from cigarette burns. Multiple cuts of different sizes inflicted with some sharp-pointed weapon were found on the body. The girl lost sight in one eye and had her two arms and a leg fractured.

The alleged rapist, Kamran, had claimed that the girl had fallen off the hill and received serious injuries. The mother came to know about the incident and took her to different government hospitals. Finally, she came to the Civil Hospital. The wife of Kamran, however, stated that one of the girl’s arm was fractured after she had met an accident with a pushcart and the second arm was fractured when she had slipped in the bathroom. However, the mother of the girl accused Kamran of subjecting the girl to torture and rape.

The police had earlier believed that the girl was not raped and claimed that the rape had not been established in the medico-legal report. The police on Tuesday approached the medico-legal officer concerned to interpret the medical terminology used in the medico-legal report as police were unable to find the word “rape”.

The police officials said that they had overlooked the bottom remarks of the doctor written in the medico-legal report, which reads: “I am of the opinion that the examination of vagina suggests it an act of sexual intercourse.”