The body of a minor girl was found in a drain in Karachi’s Liaquatabad on Wednesday evening, according to police.

A statement from the police said the minor’s body was recovered from a drain near Siddique Mosque and appeared to be one or two days old.

It added that the body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to ascertain the cause of death.

Liaquatabad Station House Officer (SHO) Ghulam Yasin told Dawn.com that the girl’s body was found floating in the drain near Angara Goth.

“It appeared that she was drowned somewhere else and the current of the water brought her there,” he said, adding that she was reported missing within the limits of Sachal Police Station on April 15.

“The body appeared to be around two days old,” Yasin said. “We are waiting for the doctor’s findings to initiate legal proceedings.”

Sachal SHO Aurangzeb Khattak told Dawn.com that the girl went missing in Sikandar Goth on April 15 at 2:30pm and her parents registered a kidnapping case against unidentified suspects.

The police said the victim was seven, but a statement by the Edhi Foundation listed the girl’s age as 10.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn.com the body was found bound and restrained, adding that a post-mortem examination was conducted.

“Physical findings suggest that the girl was subjected to sexual violence,” she said. “We have collected all samples and reserved the cause of death,” Dr Syed added.

Last month, unknown criminals kidnapped a 12-year-old girl in Surjani Town, subjected her to sexual assault and torture before throwing her out of a car in the Scheme-33 area.

Last year, non-governmental organisation Sahil’s Six Months Cruel Numbers data revealed that a total of 1,630 cases of child abuse were reported from across the country.

In the first six months of 2024, 862 cases of child sexual abuse, 668 cases of abduction, 82 cases of missing children and 18 cases of child marriages were reported. Additionally, 48 cases of pornography after sexual abuse were also recorded.