Protesters block Rawalpindi airport road following minor girl's 'rape', murder

Protesters gather outside police station, demand suspect be handed over to be publicly hanged

Our Correspondent March 23, 2021

Protesters attempting to enter the police station to attack the man accused of Zainab's murder, in Rawalpindi on March 23, 2021. PHOTO: EXPRESS/Imran Asghar

RAWALPINDI:

Protesters on Tuesday blocked the Rawalpindi airport road and attempted to barge into the Civil Lines police station following the alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl late on Monday night.

The incident took place in the Jhanda Chechi area of the district where the girl went missing after she left her home to buy something from a nearby shop. Her body was later found from under the bed of a family's neighbour.

The police had detained a suspect, identified as Babar Masih, following the incident and moved him to the Civili Lines police station, where the protesters gathered asking the officers to hand-over the alleged culprit, saying they would hang him publicly.

A scuffle was witnessed at the police station with heavy contingents of the law enforcement agency barring the protesters from entering the premises. Moreover, elite force commandos were also deputed on the site to beef up the security.

Read ‘Children’s protection ignored despite Zainab Alert Act’

The crowd dispersed after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Chaudhry Adnan and SSP Operations reached the scene and assured the protesters of delivering justice and producing the suspect in the court with concrete evidence.

The police said that as per initial investigation, the minor was sexually assaulted before being killed.However, they added that that the post-mortem report could ascertain the suspicion and the cause of death.

It added that the suspect, Babar Masih, is being interrogated, adding that his DNA sample will also be sent for a test.

On March 7, body of a 13-year-old boy was found on the rooftop of a mosque in Pano Aqil Town of Sukkur district in Sindh.

According to police, A* was tortured and sexually assaulted before being murdered.

The boy had gone missing a day ago following Maghrib prayers. His body was found from the mosque through information received from seminary students.

“The boy, a student of class 7, was strangled to death. There are also torture marks on his body as well as an injury on his head,” SHO City Police Station Zulfikar Chachar had told The Express Tribune over the phone.