CHARSADDA: The medical report of the body of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl, who was found dead on Wednesday, has confirmed that she was sexually assaulted amid unconfirmed reports that police have apprehended eight suspects in the case.

Police said that a two-member medical team of Charsadda District Head­quarters Hospital comprising Dr Maimoona and Dr Waqas had stated in the report that the minor girl had been sexually assaulted before being stabbed to death.

Her body was found dumped in the fields in the Daudzai area of Peshawar, close to Charsadda district.

Dr Maimoona told Dawn that she had examined the girl’s body and the examination confirmed that the child had been subjected to a sexual assault.

The murder of the girl has sparked outcry in the area as politicians, lawyers and civil society groups have dema­nded exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the heinous crime. They have demanded that immediate justice be done in the case.

The girl’s father said that his family had no enmity with anyone in the area. “The culprits should be questioned as to why they had subjected a daughter of the nation to such a gruesome act,” the traumatised father said.

Residents and police said that the girl had gone missing on Tuesday evening after being seen playing with children outside her house in Shiekh Kally Qilla.

The father of the girl had lodged an FIR at Prang police station of Charsadda, apprehending that her daughter had been kidnapped.

On Wednesday the Prang police received information about the body of the girl in Jabba Korona area within the jurisdiction of Daudzai police station of Peshawar district.

Prang and Daudzai police recovered the body and shifted it to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, for postmortem.

Police said that DNA samples of the girl had been sent to the forensic science laboratory of Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, and further action would be taken in the light of the DNA report.

Sources said that Prang police had taken into custody eights suspects but police denied it.

Provincial police chief Dr Sanaullah Abbasi visited Charsadda on Thursday and was briefed on the incident.

Talking to media, he said that details of the inhuman incident could not be shared with the media at this stage.

He said that an inquiry team headed by SP investigation of Charsadda Darwesh Khan had been constituted to probe the case. Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan while taking notice of the rape and murder of the minor girl has directed the inspector general of police and other relevant authorities to ensure immediate arrest of people involved in the incident.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2020