Teenage girl found slaughtered in Peshawar

Children going missing, turning up dead; a ghastly trend continuing since 2015

PESHAWAR: The body of a teenage girl with her throat slit open was found within the jurisdiction of Banamarhi police station on Sunday.

A Banamarhi policeman told The Express Tribune the deceased was 16 years of age and her throat had been slit with a sharp object. The killers dumped her remains in an open field in Kotla Mohsin Khan. Later in the evening, she was identified as 16-year-old Kiran*, a resident of Charkha Khel.



The Banamarhi official said they suspect the girl had been raped but were waiting for official autopsy results.

According to Kiran’s mother, they had gone to attend a wedding Saturday night and Kiran had been home. When they returned, she said, her daughter was missing. She added initially they tried searching for her and told the police at the local checkpost who said they would look for her in the morning. The mother said she does not know whether Kiran left the house or was taken.

Police filed an FIR under Section 302 of PPC.

“Whoever killed her did it so brutally, they slit her throat,” said the policeman.

Earlier, on February 10, body of a minor was found in a field in Tangi. The deceased was allegedly stoned to death by unidentified men after he was kidnapped. The victim was identified as four-year-old Shahid, son of Zabihullah, who was abducted by unidentified men on January 7.



Violence unchecked

In 2015, several children went missing and turned up dead in the provincial capital.

At least seven children were found dead in Peshawar between April 2015 and November 2015.

One body had several fingers missing as well as visible cuts. The dead child was estimated to be about four and was never identified. His remains were found near Ring Road with Banamarhi police station’s jurisdiction. An autopsy confirmed murder but no headway was made on the case.

In five-year-old Zikria’s case, the family suspected organ theft as they said a long incision on his abdomen had been stitched up. He had gone missing from Malangabad, within the limits of Banamarhi police, in April and his body was found in a forest in Akbarpura, Nowshera on May 1.

Instead of an autopsy in a hospital in Nowshera—an available facility—Zikria’s body was sent to Khyber Medical College. No one explained why.

*name changed to protect identity

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th,  2016.