The body of a minor girl, who was raped and murdered, was found in an open manhole in Karachi’s Surjani Town on Wednesday, according to police and hospital officials.

A statement issued by Surjani police on Wednesday said the girl, aged around five to six, went missing in Surjani Town yesterday after Iftar, and her body was found in a sewerage manhole today.

West Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Faisal Bashir Memon also confirmed these events, saying the girl’s body was found in the morning.

He said initially it was assumed that she might have fallen into the manhole and drowned, but “police sent her body to the hospital where a lady doctor confirmed that she was subjected to criminal assault”.

SSP Memon said the girl’s family had not lodged a complaint of her disappearance with police after she went missing on Tuesday evening.

Separately, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn.com that the girl’s body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where a medico-legal official confirmed that she was raped before being murdered.

“Froth was oozing from her (the deceased girl’s) nose,” she added.

“Findings are suggestive of sexual assault,” Dr Syed said, adding that samples had been collected from the girl’s body to ascertain the cause of death. She said the cause of death could be confirmed after histopathological and chemical examination reports were released.

SSP Memon said he had directed the relevant station house officer to meet the girl’s family to register a first information report of the incident and take concerted efforts for the culprits’ arrest.