Cold blood: Bodies of 2 girls, man found separately

Police say the girls have not yet been identified

BAHALWALPUR: The bodies of a man and two unidentified girls were found in separate locations in Rahim Yar Khan district late on Saturday and on Sunday. Police said the bodies had been discovered by passers-by and the police had taken the bodies to Shaikh Zayed Hospital for post-mortem examination.

They said some residents of the area had discovered the body of a man lying in a canal in front of MNA Mian Imtiaz Ahmad’s house. The canal has been closed for winter.

Police said the deceased had been shot dead but they found identification papers on him. A police spokesperson said that the deceased was identified as Mazhar, a resident of Chak 42D in Dipalpur tehsil. Police found bus tickets, a cell phone and Rs7,000 in his pockets. They have taken the body to Shaikh Zayed Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Separately, the body of a 10-year-old girl was found lying in a sugarcane field near Chandarwali Road, Jinpur. Residents of the area called up the Jinpur police checkpost and informed them about the girl.

Police said they first took the body to Khan Bela basic health unit and later to Shaikh Zayed Hospital for post-mortem examination. They said that they had been unable to identify the girl, but she was dressed in a private school uniform. Her bags and books were not on her, they said.  Police said they had also tried to identify the school where the 10-year-old girl had studied but there have been no leads in that regard.

According to the post-mortem report, the police said, she had been strangled to death but there was no sign of a sexual assault.

Rahim Yar Khan DPO Zahid Nawaz Murawat and DSP Circle Mamoonur Rasheed also visited the area where the girl was found. They expressed grief and said they would ensure justice at all cost.

In another incident, the body of a young woman, 20 to 25 years old, was found lying in a sugarcane field in Chak 27, Abbasia. Tabassum Shaheed police said that they had taken the body to Shaikh Zayed Hospital’s mortuary for post-mortem examination. They said the woman’s identity was yet to be ascertained. “We have made several announcements in the village and surrounding localities but no one has stepped forward with any information yet,” the spokesperson said.

SHO Safdar Iqbal and his team arrived at the location where the woman was found and gathered forensic evidence. The woman, too, had been strangled and killed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2016.