One held for raping, killing 4-year-old girl in Gujrat

GUJRAT: Punjab police have arrested a man accused of raping and killing a four-year-old girl in Khohar village of Sarai Alamgir, Gujrat district.

According to victim’s parents, the minor girl and her seven-year-old brother left their home for tuition on January 5, but she never returned.

The parents reported her missing to Sarai Alamgir Police Station, which filed a kidnapping report under Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against unknown individuals.

The first step the police took to recover the missing girl was blocking the entry and exit points to the village.

A day later, the police found her body wrapped in a sack from a vacant plot, after which they added Section 302 of PPC to the FIR.

Police searched the crime scene and collected clue and evidence, including the DNA samples of the suspects.

Similarly, DNA samples were also collected from the deceased’s body and sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA).

The body was then sent for medico-legal, according to which the girl was apparently subjected to rape and physical torture before being killed brutally.

However, the medical report said that final remarks can only be given after the PFSA’s findings.

Meanwhile, the victim’s father complained about the apathy of the police, saying that “it’s been 10 days since my daughter was killed but neither the DNA reports were issued, nor the culprits were arrested.”

Today, the police received the DNA report which matched with the sample of a suspect that were collected on Jan 6.

The police were quick to arrest the suspect, who confessed to raping and murdering the child.

It may be added here that Punjab has been witnessing an alarming increase in the cases of violence against children and women. The deal with the situation, Chairperson of National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC) recently claimed to have established anti-rape crisis cells in almost 75 per cent districts across the country.

On top of that, several reports find that the conviction rate in the rape cases registered within the province is severely low, owing to the weak prosecution and investigation.