LAHORE: After public protest over rape and murder of a minor girl who was kidnapped on Saturday in Baghbanpura, police on Sunday arrested a suspect claiming he has confessed to have committed the heinous crime.

Police said the seven-year-old girl, a resident of Mominpura, had gone missing on Saturday afternoon and a kidnapping case was registered at Baghbanpura police station.

The girl was later found dead in an under construction building near her house in Mominpura locality.

Police and forensic teams collected samples from the crime scene and shifted the body of the minor girl to the city morgue for the postmortem examination.

The postmortem report showed the minor girl was raped before being killed.

Meanwhile, after the girl’s body was found, a large number of area residents gathered there and protested against police for failing to arrest the culprit(s).

The protesters chanted slogans against the police, demanding arrest of the culprit(s).

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and directed the police authorities to ensure arrest of the killer.

Cantonment Division Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigation Anoosh Masood told Dawn on Sunday that Baghbanpura police took the victim’s next door neighbour into custody over suspicion, who during interrogation confessed to have kidnapped the girl with intent of rape but on facing resistance killed her.

The police and forensic teams had found blood stains on the suspect’s clothes and recovered shoes of the victim from his house, she added.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2020