Body of kidnapped girl found after 7 months

Relative confesses to killing, burying minor in cemetery

CHICHAWATNI:

The body of a minor girl who was kidnapped seven months ago was found in Chichawatni on Sunday.

According to police, a relative had killed the girl after trying to rape her and buried her in a cemetery.

The six-year-old stepdaughter of Muslim Sakhi, a resident of Chak 8/11L, went to the shop to buy groceries but did not return home.

Extensive efforts were made to find the missing girl but no trace of her was found.

The incident was deemed to be an abduction case and an application was submitted for its registration to the SHO of Ghaziabad police station.

However, instead of the stepfather, his relative Mushtaq Ahmad appeared as the plaintiff. He was employed to look after the village graveyard.

The applicant nominated three opponents from his own community as suspected kidnappers in the application for registration of the case.

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Seven months after the kidnapping, District Police Officer Sahiwal Muhammad Kashif Aslam reopened the investigation after examining all aspects in light of the information provided by the abducted girl’s family.

When police interrogated the real father of the victim, his revelations helped put the investigations in the right direction, an official said.

The police took the complainant Mushtaq into custody for interrogation, after which he confessed to his crime.

The suspect said, “After abduction, I tried to sexually abuse the girl but after I failed, I strangled and killed her for fear of being caught. I dug a place in the cemetery and buried her at night.”

The killer, after confessing to the crime, pointed out the clothes of the slain girl and also informed the police about her grave. During the last six months, 23 cases of sexual abuse of women and children have been registered in six police stations of Chichawatni police circle.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2021.