Slain child buried amid rage, fear

Victim girl’s parents not informed about investigation

OKARA: An eight-year-old girl who had been murdered after rape was buried in Hujra Shah Muqeem on Saturday amid grief and anger in the area.

The family of the murdered girl, Sawera Siddique, claimed that the murderers had been identified after the incident but police were guarding their homes. They alleged that a local police official named Haider was having meals at the home of the suspects.

They said two suspects, named Nadeem Kharal and Adeeb, had been arrested but the latter had been released.

Minor escapes sexual assault in Badami Bagh

The relatives of the victim also alleged that the police were not informing her father about the investigation into the case. During protest after the incident took place on May 27, police officials had assured the family of the murdered girl that charges under the anti-terrorism laws would be included in the first information report (FIR). The family and local people had protested for justice after placing the body on a road. They ended the protest after receiving the assurance from the police.

However, the anti-terrorism provisions have not been added to the FIR.

The delay in solving the case is leading to increased resentment among local people.

The police have not yet contacted the murdered girl’s father and have not handed over copies of the post-mortem and medical reports of the victim to her family.

A former councillor from the area, Malik Mohammad Azam, alleged that the police officials concerned had mistreated the aggrieved family.

The parents of the victim have locked her sister in their home out of fear. They said they feeling insecure in a society where young children were not safe and their tormentors were roaming freely.

They said the accused were influential landlords while the father of the girl was a farmer owning only one acre of land.

The victim’s father said only speedy justice might pacify him but he did not see any hope in this regard. He said the thought of how his daughter had died kept haunting him. He said his daughter used to welcome him at the door whenever he returned home but he could only see his wife weeping.

Another minor sexually assaulted in Lahore

The girl had reportedly gone along with her younger brother to take bathe at a tube-well in Awan Otar area of Hujra Shah Muqeem town in Okara district. The assaulter took her from there to a maize field on the pretext of picking grass. The family was worried when the girl did not return home, so the girl’s father went to the tube-well along with local people and heard her screaming. According to the family, the killer fled after he saw the people. When they reached the girl, she was dead.

Okara District Police Officer Omar Saeed Malik formed a police team led by the DSP of Dipalpur to arrest the murderers.

He promised to arrest the culprits as soon as possible. The local police team arrested the accused within 24 hours while investigating traditional and scientific grounds. Police say a final opinion could be given after the assault proves in the DNA report. A case of rape and murder was registered.

The post-mortem report confirmed that the girl had been sexually assaulted.

The police also obtained five-day remand of the arrested suspect from the additional sessions judge of Dipalpur. Police officials said his DNA test would also be conducted.

*name withheld to protect the identity 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2020.