HARIPUR: A recent autopsy has confirmed that a five-year-old girl, who disappeared from her home on August 10, was raped and ultimately succumbed to severe blood loss and shock. The tragic findings were disclosed on Thursday, following the recovery of the child’s body from an abandoned well at a warehouse, approximately a furlong from her residence, on August 24. The discovery was made possible by one of the four suspects in custody.
According to the autopsy report obtained by Dawn, the examination verified that the young girl had indeed suffered sexual assault. Dr. Munawar Afridi, a member of the autopsy team, mentioned that they collected samples for DNA analysis and forensic testing, which were subsequently handed over to law enforcement for further investigation.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that one of the suspects was brought before a magistrate and placed under judicial remand. A member of the investigative team revealed that this suspect, who lives in the area, had allegedly lured the girl by claiming her father was waiting nearby.
District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur informed that he has called for a panel of prosecutors to evaluate the case’s specifics and to assess the potential application of anti-terrorism laws, given the nature of the crime. Notably, all four suspects are minors, prompting a call for strict adherence to legal standards in handling the case. The investigation remains active.
During a press conference on Tuesday, DPO Gandapur explained that the little girl was last seen outside her home around 6 PM on August 10. Initially, the police pursued inquiries under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which pertains to cognizable offenses, and registered a first information report (FIR) under Section 364-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, addressing abduction with intent to murder, on August 12. This action followed the collection of CCTV footage and the implementation of geofencing in the area.
The investigation led to the arrest of three individuals, one of whom confessed to the crime in front of a duty magistrate last week, implicating all four suspects in the abduction and subsequent assault of the girl in a location near Model Town. Although the initial three suspects did not reveal the location of the victim’s body after the assault, further police work, including a review of CCTV footage from another residence, facilitated the identification of the fourth suspect.
Thanks to information from this suspect, authorities located the body of the young victim in a well within a warehouse near a road leading to Haripur University. The DPO stated that the suspect had disposed of the child’s body in the well after the alleged assault, attempting to conceal it with nearby vegetation.
