RAWALPINDI: A seven-year-old girl was strangled to death after being raped in her house in Dhoke Chaudhrian early on Friday.

Even after her death, the victim was again subjected to sexual assault by her 18-year-old uncle, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Syed Ali. He said the suspect had confessed to having killed the girl after sexually assaulting her.

He said the girl’s father, an Afghan national, lived in Dhoke Chaudhrian’s sector ‘C’ with his wife and six children. His younger brother (suspect) also lived with the family.

The SP said the suspect got married two months ago but his wife left him two weeks ago and returned to her parents’ house.

Late on Thursday night, the girl’s father, who works as a scavenger, went to work along with his elder son, leaving his wife and five children and the suspect at home.

After midnight, the suspect took the girl from her mother’s room to another room and subjected her to sexual assault.

After strangling her to death, he put the body on a bed outside her mother’s room and covered her with a blanket. The suspect then left his house but police later traced him in the same locality and took him into custody.

The incident came to light when the victim’s father and brother returned home at about 2.30am and found her lying outside her mother’s room.

“First, her father thought that she might have been taunted by her mother, therefore, she was sleeping outside the room. But when he removed the blanket, he found her dead,” police said.

The body was taken to a private hospital where a doctor declared it a police case because the victim had been subjected to sexual assault.

A police team led by SP Ali reached the scene and collected evidence, including a blood stained bedsheet. The police also called forensic experts who collected evidence from the scene.

The SP said the body was handed over to her parents after an autopsy. An investigation has been launched and as soon as the postmortem report is received the circumstances in which the girl was murdered could be known, he added.

The parents of the victim were reluctant in registration of a case but when they were assured by the police that all possible help would be extended to them, they agreed to file an FIR.

City Police Officer (CPO) Mohammad Faisal Rana in a video message said an incident of murder of a girl after rape had taken place in the airport police area and the suspect had been arrested.

He didn’t reveal the relation of the suspect with the victim but said: “The suspect is a close relative of the victim. His DNA and other forensic tests will be conducted and he would be awarded an exemplary punishment.”

Soon after the incident came to light, a large number of people gathered at the house of the victim and demanded the police send the case to the speedy trial court to award exemplary punishment to the culprit.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2019