GUJRAT: Police have detained some suspects for interrogation in connection with the brutal murder of a four-year-old daughter of an expatriate Pakistani, who was found killed on Monday after being kidnapped on Sunday at Khohaar village of Sara-i-Alamgir Saddar police precincts.

However, the names and identity of these suspects is being kept secret due to the sensitive nature of the case.

Reports said Zohra (4) along with her brother Ahmed (7) had left their house to go for tuition in a nearby street; however, Ahmed returned to the house of his maternal grandparents in the same area but Zohra did not come back.

Junaid Iqbal, who had returned from South Africa a few weeks ago, informed the police that he was present at a wedding party in Sara-i-Alamgir city when he learnt that his daughter went missing after which the family launched the search.

Police lodged the kidnapping case against unidentified suspects under section 363 of Pakistan Penal Code on the report of Junaid and started investigation.

The body of minor girl was found packed in a sack at a nearby deserted place in the area as she had been killed by the unidentified suspects after being kidnapped.

Initial investigation said that the girl had been killed through asphyxiation and the body was shifted to Kharian Tehsil Headquarter hospital where doctors conducted the autopsy and later handed over to the heirs.

A team of Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) also collected evidence.

Senior police officials inspected the crime scene as well as gathered other information about the incident.

The slain girl was laid to rest after funeral prayers in the village graveyard on Monday night.

When asked a spokesman for Gujrat police said whether the deceased girl was raped or not, could only be ascertained in the autopsy report that was being awaited but it seemed that she had been killed through asphyxiation as further investigation was under way.

Saddar Sara-i-Alamgir Station House Officer Shiraz Haider told Dawn that police had been working on the case and an evidence-based progress would be made very soon.

However, he declined to share any details about the suspected elements of the case.

The residents of Khohaar village and adjoining rural localities have lodged a strong protest against the incident and urged the authorities to trace and arrest the suspects involved in the brutal murder of the minor girl and provide justice to the heirs of victim.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025