Young woman found raped, strangled

Victim’s face burnt away by acid to conceal identity.

LAHORE:

A young woman was found raped and strangled, her face burnt away by acid, in Islampura police jurisdiction on Thursday.

The duty officer at Islampura police station said that the body had been spotted near T-spur No 4 of the River Ravi and reported to the police. He said that the woman appeared to have been in her early 20s. The body had been found wrapped in a cloth. She had likely been raped and strangled elsewhere and then dumped here, he said. The acid had been poured on her face after the murder so it would be difficult to identify her, he added.

Riaz, a resident of Bund Road, told The Express Tribune that as he went to his workplace by bicycle in the morning, he saw the body with smoke rising from it, apparently due to the acid. He said that there were bruises on the body and the young woman was wearing jeans and a shirt. He said that the clothes were torn in some places.

A large crowd gathered around the body after news spread that a young woman had been found dead.

The police made announcements through mosque loudspeakers asking people to come forward to identify the body, but no one came forward. The body was sent to the morgue for an autopsy.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2013.