MARDAN: No development in the case of four-year-old Aasma rape and murder case has taken place as police, thus far, has been unable to arrest the person behind the rape and murder of the minor girl.
Four-year-old Aasma went missing from the Gujjar Garhi area on January 13 and was found dead in a sugarcane field the next day at 3 pm after search efforts by the police and family. The police joined the family’s search after being informed of the incident at 9 pm on January 13.
After the body was found, an FIR was registered and Mardan RPO and DPO visited Aasma’s family on January 14 to personally record details of the incident.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector-General of Police Salahuddin Mehsud confirmed that the minor girl found dead in Mardan’s Gujar Garhi area was raped before being strangled to death according to the post-mortem report.
“Looks like the culprit’s intention was to sexually assault [the minor],” he told reporters while detailing the incident. The IGP further added that the minor’s post-mortem report shows signs of torture.
Earlier, authorities detained as many as six more suspects in the case.
According to Mardan DPO, the DNA samples were collected from the suspects and the authorities had geo-fenced the area. Moreover, the district government called an All Parties Conference on the case.
The father of Aasma demanded the culprit(s) be handed out the strictest punishment. Talking to a private media outlet, Behram expressed satisfaction with the police investigation in the case.
The minor’s father said he works in Saudi Arabia as a labourer and returned to Pakistan on Friday, after receiving the news of her death.
The police announced a Rs500,000 reward for anyone providing information in the rape and murder case of Aasma, for aiding in the arrest of the suspect who remains at large.
The police put up posters seeking public’s help in the Gojar Ghari area of the district, where the victim resided with her family and was abducted from.
