Mardan girl’s murder case: Authorities admit medico-legal report hints at sexual assault

PESHAWAR: The authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finally admitted on Wednesday that there were indications of sexual assault on the body of the three-year old Asma belonging to Gujjar Garhi in Mardan, but said more details could not be disclosed to the media at this stage.

The police are yet to arrest the person who murdered the girl, whose body was found in the sugarcane fields of Gujjar Garhi on January 14. A complaint about the missing girl was lodged at the local police post on January 13.

“According to the medico-legal report, the cause of the death was strangling. There were wounds on the body of the girl and medico-legal report also hints at sexual assault on her,” Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Salahuddin Khan Mahsud told reporters at the Central Police Office on Wednesday.

He said that apart from DNA, other samples have been collected and sent to the forensic laboratory. “The arrest of the killer is the top priority of police. Every effort is being made to apprehend the culprit,” the IGP added. .

He said the medico-legal report in the case was received on January 14.

“A special team was constituted under the district police officer (DPO) Mardan immediately after the body of the girl was recovered. Later a joint investigation team was also formed to probe the incident,” the KP Police chief explained.

He said a 13-member committee of local elders, including members of the Dispute Resolution Councils and representatives of six political parties, was constituted by the deputy inspector general (DIG) Mardan to help the police in the probe as well as monitor the investigation in the murder from all angles.

Senior police officials said that the incident happened in a remote rural area lacking facility of closed circuit television cameras and other means of technology.

In the wake of the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Zainab in Kasur and the anger across the country over the incident, many political parties have criticised the PTI government and the provincial police for failure in arresting the killers.

The provincial minister for education Muhammad Atif Khan, who was elected MPA from Mardan in 2013 general election, met IGP Salahuddin Mahsud to find out about the progress in the case.

Many have also questioned as to why the samples were not sent to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Peshawar which police claimed has been upgraded and made a state-of-the-art facility.

Mardan District Nazim Himayatullah Mayar on Tuesday hinted at torture on the body of the child. He also alleged that police were trying to conceal the postmortem report to avoid pressure.

A number of civil society members and associations have asked the police chiefs of all the provinces to probe the cases of missing, kidnapping, murder and sexual assault on children during the last few years, or at least last one year as the situation was getting worse.