Murder of 7-year-old girl: It was an attempted rape, says CCPO

CCPO Quetta said 'It was an attempted rape case in which Saher Batool was tortured before being strangled to death'

QUETTA:

Police said on Friday the murder of the seven year old girl of minority Hazara community was an attempt to rape.

“It was an attempted rape case in which a seven-year-old Saher Batool was tortured before being strangled to death,” City police chief of Quetta Abdul Razzaq Cheema said.

The body bearing multiple marks of torture and red mark of violence around neck was found abandoned in the garbage dump in her neighbourhood on Zarghoon Road. She went missing on the morning of October 28, and her body was found in the evening.

“The initial investigation suggested that the heinous ‘murderers’ wanted to rape the girl. There are marks of violence on the body,” CCPO Cheema told The Express Tribune.

The girl belongs to Hazara community and sixth among her seven siblings. She was the student of first grade. Her father Sakhi Khan is a gardener by profession has said no arrest has so far been made in this regard.

Quetta Police Chief said that a lady officer is also included in the investigation team tasked to trace the culprits. “It is the work of those who live nearby the family or those who have access inside the family,” Cheema said. “There was no progress in this case so far,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2014.