BAHAWALNAGAR: A minor girl who went missing a day ago was found dead in a sewage tank here on Wednesday.

According to family members, they searched for four-year-old Mehrun Nisa when she went missing from neighbourhood Gulshan Habib.

On Wednesday, she was found motionless in the uncovered sewage tank. The family took out the body and informed the police and Rescue 1122.

Rescue 1122 shifted the body to the Minchinabad THQ hospital. Minchinabad police started an investigation.

Municipal Committee Chief Executive Muhammad Rashid Ghaznavi told Dawn it was not a mistake of the MC as the tank was constructed by the victim’s family outside their home to store the sewage.

Quoting the victim’s family, he claimed the tank was covered with a concrete slab on Tuesday, however, it was found to be open the next day.

Residents, on the other hand, claimed that they were forced to build sewage tanks because the majority of the city is experiencing sewerage problems. In many areas, sewerage lines remained blocked for months due to pending construction work or because of MC’s negligence.

Furthermore, tanks, whether new or old, could be seen uncovered in most of the places, and despite repeated protests, the MC employees did not pay notice to it, they claimed. The death is being investigated, according to Minchinabad Station House Officer Naveed Nazakat.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2023