MULTAN: The body of a four-year old girl stashed in a gunny bag was recovered on Saturday, after the four days she went missing in Basti Azizabad of Khanewal district.

According to initial reports, the girl was murdered after being raped.

Furious against the police negligence, the family of the deceased and the area people stopped Sir Syed Express by blocking the railway track.

Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani suspended Saddar Deputy Superintendent of Police Malik Ejaz for his alleged negligence while Regional Police Officer Syed Khurram Ali suspended the SHO.

The deceased was playing outside when she went missing four days back.

The family informed the police but the FIR was not lodged by the Kohna Police and instead they were told to look for the girl by themselves.

He said when the body was recovered from fields, the police were again informed on helpline 15 but they arrived at the scene after one and a half hour.

Hundreds of locals gathered at the site and blocked the railway track and Jahanian Bypass Road as a protest and shouted slogans against the police.

The protesters, mostly women, stopped the Sir Syed Express by blocking the track.

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar directed the Multan RPO to submit a report about the incident. He said all the requirements of justice would be fulfilled.

The RPO arrived in Khanewal, held negotiations with the protesters and convinced them to clear the road and railway track.

He also visited the house of the deceased girl and expressed his condolence to the family. He informed the family that the DSP and the SHO had been suspended over negligence while legal action against the SHO would also be taken.

“To help the people is the duty of police and there is no space for forgiveness in this particular case due to the severe nature of the crime and negligence. Police teams have been constituted to arrest the culprit who will be arrested soon,” he said.

The body was shifted to hospital for postmortem while the police started investigation after lodging the FIR.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2021