KASUR-Another minor girl was found murdered on Tuesday after rape here from Shehbaz Khan Road in Ghandra area, five days after she had gone missing under mysterious circumstances.
Passersby spotted the dead body of a minor girl, later identified as seven-year-old Zainab, daughter of Muhammad Ameen Ansari, resident of Shehbaz Khan Road Kot. On information, the police rushed to spot and shifted the dead body to DHQ Hospital Kasur for autopsy.
According to hospital sources, the autopsy confirmed that the minor girl was raped and then strangulated to death.
Special police teams arrived from Lahore and collected evidence from the scene.
Zainab had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on her way back home from a local seminary some five days ago. In the absence of her parents who have gone Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah, the family searched her everywhere but found no clue about the minor. Upon which they informed the police, which launched investigation but failed to make any headway in the search for the minor.
Panic spread through the city and traders closed entire markets and business centre in shock, protesting against the rising incidents of minors killings after rape.
The bereaved family members, flanked by traders and members of civil society staged a sit-in on Ferozepur Road, blocking the road for all kind of traffic.
They lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Inspector General of Police for their apathy and negligence to devise a strategy in the face of rising crime against children. They questioned the tall claims of the Punjab CM and the police chief regarding efficiency and capability of the police, saying the police have utterly failed to find any clue about the culprits in more than dozen cases of minor girls murder after rape in Kasur district alone over the past five months.
A large number of women from different localities of the city also joined the protest and heaped criticism on the Punjab government for its failure to protect children. The protesting women chanted slogans and expressed sympathies with the bereaved parents.
Among the protesters, a large number of lawyers warned that the legal fraternity would no more remain silent over the failure of the police and administration to check crime against children. They also announced a strike and boycott of court in the district on Wednesday (today) to lodge protest against the gruesome incident.
The protesters demanded Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the rising crime against children, especially in Kasur district and police failure to bring the culprit to the book.
On the occasion, the absence of Kasur Deputy Commissioner Saira Omer from the scene was also felt and people regretted that being head of the district, she should have turned up at the scene at least to console the bereaved family.
Meanwhile, DPO Zulfiqar Ahmed condemned the incident as grotesque, saying it is a crime against the entire society. “The police stand by the bereaved family in this critical hour and promise that the culprit(s) whosoever he may be, will be traced and brought to the book at all costs,” the DPO pledged.