KARACHI: The body of a minor girl, stuffed in a gunny bag, was found near a garbage dump in the Lucky Star area on Sunday and doctors said she was murdered after being raped.

The Saddar police said that the body was found on Mir Karam Ali Talpur Road.

DIG-South Syed Asad Raza said that a passer-by informed the police about the body lying in a gunny bag. He said investigators believed that she was a homeless person.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that the body of an around 11-year-old unidentified girl was brought at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination.

“Initial post-mortem examination findings are suggestive of sexual violence,” she said, adding that all swabs and samples had been collected for serology, DNA and intoxication tests and the cause of death was kept reserved till the receipt of the reports.

The DIG said that eight suspects had been taken into custody for interrogation.

He said he had formed a special team led by Saddar SP Majida Halepota to investigate the case.

In the evening, the DIG said that investigators managed to identify the victim girl who belonged to the Hindu community and lived underneath the Lilly Bridge with her mother.

He said that the victim girl and her mother had come from Sukkur around 20 days ago to look after an ailing relative. Her mother also fell ill and went to the JPMC for treatment on Saturday night. She returned to the bridge at around 2am but could not find her daughter.

The DIG said the victim girl had gone to a nearby restaurant to get free food and it appeared that she was kidnapped from there.

He said CCTV footage obtained from the crime scene showed that a motorcyclist threw the body. He hinted the possibility that she was poisoned as there were no injury marks on the body.

Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the rape and murder of the minor and directed the police to take immediate action and ensure the arrest of the culprits involved.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2024