CHAKWAL: A seven-year-old girl who went missing on Saturday evening was found murdered in the fields near her house in Sehgalabad village of Dohman police station, police said on Sunday.

The girl’s mother reported to the police on Saturday that her daughter, Komal Shehzadi, was playing with her friends in the street. When she did not return , she searched for her, but in vain.

On Sunday, a villager informed the family that Komal was lying dead in the fields, after which police were called.

District Police Officer (DPO) Retired Captain Wahid Mehmood, along with the team, headed to the scene and a team of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) was called, which took samples of the body.

“The girl was strangled to death, and later she was hit with a stone in the head,” DPO told Dawn.

Mr Mehmood added that according to preliminary findings by the PFSA, the dead body was twenty-four hours old.

“In the initial findings, the signs of sexual assault were not found. However, the investigation is still underway,” the DPO said, adding that special teams were deployed to trace the killers.

The uncle of the deceased informed Dawn that Komal was kidnapped by two boys who were on a motorcycle.

A source also revealed that the mother of the girl was separated from her husband a few months ago, and the deceased was living with her mother while her sister was living with the father.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2024