Suspect strangles child after failed rape attempt
In a harrowing sex-crime, a six-year-old girl was strangled to death by a suspected sexual pervert following a failed rape attempt in Surjani Town, it was revealed on Wednesday.
Muhammad Younis, resident of Sector 36 Market, Surjani Town, was renovating his house and his six-year-old daughter mysteriously disappeared after labourers had left at 6pm on April 4. He was helping his wife with iftar preparations when his daughter stepped out of home and went missing.
The family reported it to the Surjani police after failing to find her. Police did nothing to trace her forcing the family and neighbours to search for her on their own on Wednesday morning. Finally, they found the little girl's body dumped in an open sever and reported it to police.
Edhi volunteers and police shifted the body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) where Police Surgeon Dr Samia performed the post-mortem on the body. She said that the sex offender might have strangled the victim after failing to rape her. "DNA samples have all been collected and sent to the lab for confirmation," she added.
Bashir Wadu, SHO Surjani Town police station, said on the basis of preliminary investigation that the suspected killer might have been known to the girl and her family. "He must have taken the girl to some abandoned location, tried to rape her, but strangled her to death after failing in his attempt," he said, adding that the killer might have killed the victim fearing that she would reveal his identity.
Pedophiles and sex offenders appear to be on the prowl in the metropolitan city as such rape-murder incidents have been reported in different parts of the city, including Quaidabad, Mehmoodabad, and Shah Latif Town.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2023.