Eight-year-old boy allegedly raped, murdered by teenagers in Gilgit

GILGIT-

An eight-year-old boy, who had gone missing for three days, was found dead on Tuesday after allegedly being raped by three teenagers in Gilgit, capital city of Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to details, Hasnain; a student of class one, went missing from near his residence in Majini Mohalla area of Gilgit on November 8th.

The child’s family issued a notice in the regional newspapers, seeking information about whereabouts of the child and filed a report at a local police station, leading to launch of an investigation.

The investigation team checked video surveillance footage from security cameras installed around the area and identified a suspect.

The suspect; named Shoaib, was apprehended by the police. Upon interrogation he confessed to have raped the child, three months before the killing, along with two of his accomplices, named Usama and Abrar.

When Hasnain threatened to tell his family of the incident, the three suspects lured the child out of his home to buy him a present on Saturday. They took him by the river, raped him, strangled him to death and dumped the body by the river, confessed Shoaib.

The body was recovered from the identified area and the two suspects were also arrested in a raid.

All three of the alleged culprits are said to be teenagers, between 14 and 16 years.

The body was handed over to the victim’s family after a post mortem.

A First Investigation Report (FIR) has been filed against the suspects who are now under a physical remand on a local court’s order.

On Tuesday, locals of the city staged a protest against the rape and killing of the young boy and demanded strict punishment against the culprits.

Provincial Minister of Information Sadia Danish strongly condemned the incident, calling it a defamation attempt against the province. Ms. Danish also ensured a strict action against the culprits and urged the youth of the area to uphold the peaceful and crime-free image of Gilgit-Baltistan.