According to police, a suspect was arrested on Thursday for the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in a village in Punjab’s Gujrat district.
According to a statement issued by the police, the victim and her seven-year-old brother left their house in Khuhar, situated in Gujrat’s Sarai Alamgir town, to attend classes on January 5, but she never returned home.
Upon receiving information about the incident, Sarai Alamgir Station Office (SHO) Shiraz Haider and Superintendent of Police Abid Hussain filed a case against unidentified suspects under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Penal Code. Pakistan (PPC).
Meanwhile, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rai Muneer Ahmed reached Khuhar and blocked all roads in and out of the village, the police statement said. On the arrival of the Gujrat district police officer, a search operation was launched.
The victim’s body, stuffed in a sack, was found in a vacant lot the next day, according to the statement. Provisions for murder (article 302) were added to the case, according to a January 6 police report.
Police searched the neighborhood where the body was found, questioned and took DNA samples from possible suspects, according to the statement. These samples, along with DNA samples from the victim’s body, were sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) for analysis.
According to the victim’s medical report, dated January 6, the girl had injuries consistent with rape, as well as lacerations throughout her body. “The final opinion will be given after the PFSA reports,” the report said. Provisions relating to the rape of a minor were later added to the police report (article 376iii).
After the incident, the victim’s father, in a video statement, stated that no one had been arrested nor had the DNA report arrived. “It’s been 10 days since my daughter was murdered,” he said. “At this time no DNA results have been received and no suspect has been presented.
“I request that the report be sent quickly,” he had said.
According to the statement, police received the DNA report today and the samples matched those of one of the suspects questioned on January 6. The statement said the suspect was arrested and confessed to the crime during interrogation.
“Further investigations are underway,” the statement added.
The Punjab Police a day ago established Special Sexual Offenses Investigation Units (SSOIU) across the province, comprising 1,450 specially trained officers, in line with the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Prosecution) Act.
The dedicated units were established under Section 9 of the Anti-Rape (Inquiry and Trial) Act, 2021 following long-standing allegations of flawed investigations into rape and other sexual crime cases.
According to data collected by Sahil, an NGO that works on cases of child sexual abuse, the vast majority of abusers are acquaintances or neighbors of the communities or family members.
At the same time, the data also shows that, at the institutional level, the greatest number of complaints arise against teachers or religious clerics, rather than against the police, school teachers or nuclear family members.
