MARDAN: A seven-year-old boy was found dead in Mardan after alleged kidnapping and murder which caused protests demanding justice, media reports said.
Mardan District Police Officer (DPO) Mian Saeed Ahmed told media that the minor had disappeared on Saturday after being last seen playing outside his house in the Tambulk area of the district.
The family of the boy had lodged a complaint in the police after the disappearance. The seven-year-old was then found dumped in the fields behind the house inside a gunny sack. Police are in search of the unidentified suspect who kidnapped the boy, murdered him and dumped his body, Ahmed said.
Police investigators cordoned off the place where the boy was located and collected evidence.
The boy’s father earned a living by working as a labourer in a vegetable market nearby.
DNA samples were collected from the boy during a post-mortem examination in the Mardan Medical Complex, hospital sources said. The boy was then sent to the Bacha Khan Medical College’s forensic laboratory
Protests were staged against the heinous act in which family of the victim, relatives and area residents blocked the Mardan-Nowshera Road to demand justice. They also demanded the arrest of the suspect as soon as possible.
Earlier this year, a four-year-old girl named Asma had gone missing on January 14 in Mardan’s Gujar Garhi area, and her dead body was found from sugarcane fields near her house on January 15. Later, the forensic testing had confirmed that the child was subjected to sexual abuse before being killed.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police had claimed to arrest the main suspect, 15-year-old Mohammad Nabi who was a close relative of the minor girl.
The police high ups confirmed arresting of two accused during a press conference at Peshawar on Wednesday morning. Nabi, with his face covered, was also presented before the media.
