A 17-year-old girl was raped and strangulated to death in Surjani Town, an area in the suburbs of Karachi, police and hospital officials told Dawn.

The body was recovered from an under-construction house in Sector 4D of the area.

The corpse was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The police surgeon, Dr Aijaz Khokar, confirmed the 17-year-old was raped and strangulated.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Surjani Town Sohrab Meo told Dawn that the girl had been identified via a mobile phone found with her at the crime scene. She was a resident of the North Karachi area of the metropolis.

Meo said that it appeared the girl was choked to death with her dupatta, which was also found from the crime scene.

The victim's family members told police that she had left home on Tuesday to attend a beautician's course but never returned.

Karachi-West SSP Investigation, Akhtar Farooq told Dawn that an investigation is underway. He added that they have got some clues and were working on them to unearth the identity of the culprit(s) involved in the rape-cum-murder of the teenager girl.