Eleven more suspects detained in minor girl’s rape and murder case

Police officials investigating the rape and murder case of a minor girl in Gulshan-e-Iqbal have rounded up 11 more suspects for their alleged involvement in the crime. According to investigators, the suspects’ samples had been taken and sent to a laboratory to ascertain whether they were involved in the rape.

Earlier, the police had taken one of the victim’s neighbour, Nawaz, into custody on Sunday and the suspect’s DNA samples were sent to a laboratory in the University of Karachi. Meanwhile, medico-legal officer Dr Zakia has confirmed that the minor girl was subjected to rape before murder. The officer explained that the girl had been hit in her head with a heavy object.

As the news of the heinous crime was spread on Monday, ‘Justice for Marwah’ became one of the top trends on social media. Angered residents of the Essa Nagri area in Gulshan-e-Iqbal had held an hours-long protest on Sunday on the main University Road, following the recovery of her body.

The culprits had even torched her body so that it could not be identified and dumped it into a vacant plot in the area. The family ended the protest after giving a three-day ultimatum to the government and police and warned of holding another major protest if the real culprits were not traced and arrested within three days.

The minor girl was kidnapped a couple of days ago and her body bearing torture marks was found in the early hours of Sunday near her residence in the Essa Nagri area that falls within the jurisdiction of the PIB Colony police station.

The funeral prayers for the victim were also offered during the protest after Zuhr prayers. She was then laid to rest at a graveyard in Baldia Town. The protest, however, continued after the funeral prayers and burial.

The victim’s paternal uncle told the media that the girl’s father was a rickshaw driver. He added that his five-year-old niece was kidnapped near her residence on Friday at around 7am when she had left her home to buy biscuits from a nearby shop and since then her whereabouts had been unknown until her body was found in a garbage dump in a plot.

The uncle explained that unidentified persons had first kidnapped her and then murdered her after subjecting her to rape. Later, they set her body on fire so that she could not be identified.