MARDAN: A 5-year-old girl, whose body was recovered on August 8 from the fields in Dhandu Pathu village of Takhtbai tehsil, was raped before being brutally murdered, Mardan police on Thursday confirmed after the issuance of medico-legal report.
The police told media said the minor girl was raped, adding that the child died due to strangulation.
The official further confirmed that at least six suspects have been arrested in the case and are currently being interrogated. He said DNA samples have been collected from at least 75 people living in three different villages.
The DNA samples have already been sent for forensic tests, the official said. Besides, a first information report has been registered in the case.
The body of the child was found near the family’s residence on Wedesday. Officials of Takhtbai police station took the body to Mardan Medical Complex Hospital for autopsy.
Police said the hands and legs of the girl were fastened before she was strangulated.
Thousands of child abuse incidents take place in Pakistan every year. Earlier in 2018, the menace used to be under-reported but that changed with the brutal rape and murder of Zainab Ansari in Kasur.
Zainab’s death became a watershed moment and forced the law enforcement authorities as well as the media to pay more attention to cases of violence against children.