SAHIWAL: Arifwala City police arrested a teenage boy on Sunday for raping and murdering his five-year-old relative near Gillani Housing Society, Chak 63/EB.

The body of a five-year-old missing boy was found in a field.

Reports said the child had been missing from Bhatta No 2 locality in Arifwala city since Saturday morning. The villagers found a mutilated body on Sunday and alerted police. Later, the body was identified to be that of the missing boy.

Pakpattan District Police Officer Tariq Wallayat told Dawn the 16-year-old suspect had confessed to committing the crime. The medical examination confirmed that the victim was sexually assaulted before being killed.

The victim’s father, Ghulam Farid, was daily-wager in the Arifwala grain market. He told police that when he returned from work Nov 29, his wife said their child had gone out to play with friends. Farid searched for his son but in vain. In the evening, he registered a kidnap case.

The DPO visited the crime scene and formed a six-member investigation team under SP Shahida Noureen. Police interrogated people and sought help of the Safe Cities Authority cameras. The investigators saw in cameras a 16-year-old boy taking the child with him. The boy was identified to be a relative of the minor. Police arrested the teenage boy by tracing him from his mobile phone location. The suspect told the police that he took the victim along him on pretext of seeing his paternal aunt in Chak 63/EB but raped him at a deserted place. Later, he slaughtered the boy at the same place with a sharp mirror.

Arifwala DSP Malik Tariq Javed said sections of murder and rape had been added to the kidnap case registered with the City Police Station.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2024