A teenage boy, missing since the past 23 days, was found dead in a graveyard on Sunday in Daulatpur town of Nawabshah, police said.
The 13-year-old was a resident of village Laiq Dahiri from where he went missing in early May.
“The matter was reported to the local police well on time, however, no concrete efforts were made to ensure safe recovery of the child,” the devastated father of the victim alleged.
The parents of the victim feared that the boy was sexually assaulted before he was killed. The deceased’s body was transported to Qazi Ahmed hospital in a police mobile for a post-mortem examination before it was handed over to the parents.
SSP Shaheed Benazirabad Sajid Ameer Sadozai, when contacted, said that samples have been collected for a DNA test to verify whether the boy had been sexually assaulted or not. The facts behind the boy’s death can only be revealed after the autopsy report is furnished by medical examiners.
The SSP said that the police had made all possible efforts for safe recovery of the child. He added that the condition of the recovered body suggested that the boy was killed on the same day he had gone missing.
The police will register a case upon the arrival of the boy’s parents, the SSP added.
Child Rights Advocacy Network Coordinator Zulfiqar Ali Khaskheli strongly condemned the incident. Talking to the media on Sunday, he expressed alarm over the rise in the number of such cases where children were being abducted for criminal assault.
He said that a demonstration would be held in protest against the incident. He demanded immediate arrest of the culprits and registration of a case.