GUJRAT: Jhelum police claim to have resolved the mystery surrounding the murder of a six-year-old girl as her father, who had claimed she was killed during a street robbery, turns out to be the “killer”.

A spokesman for the Jhelum police said on Monday that the police had detained Shabbir Haider Naqvi, the father of Syeda Hijab Fatima (6) soon after her burial, keeping in view the circumstances of her death as stated by him (Naqvi) while lodging the complaint.

He said the complainant had told the police on Oct 20 last that three unidentified robbers had deprived him of cash and other valuables, besides snatching his minor daughter when he was going to pick his son from school near Machine Mohallah No 2 of the city.

The complainant had said the robbers who were riding a motorbike then threw his daughter along a road after covering some distance. He had told police that he found the minor lying dead with her throat slit.

The police said during interrogation Naqvi confessed to have killed his own daughter over some differences with his wife who had gone to her parents home.

However, police said the suspect was arrested after his confessional statement and further investigation was underway in the light of the provisional report of the autopsy conducted by a lady doctor at the Jhelum District Headquarters Hospital.

The DNA and other samples of the victim’s body would be sent for chemical examination to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) to know the facts.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2019