KARACHI: Karachi police on Monday announced the arrest of a second suspect involved in the gang rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl.
The suspect was apprehended during an ‘encounter’ on Abdul Sattar Edhi Avenue in Defence Phase 8.
The body of the young victim was discovered in a bag near a garbage dump in Karachi’s Lucky Star area on August 25. The autopsy revealed that the girl had been raped and strangled.
Last week, police had already detained what they referred to as the prime suspect in the case. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of South Karachi, Syed Asad Raza, stated that the new suspect, identified as Asim Ali, was captured in an injured state during a police operation. He is alleged to have discarded the girl’s body after committing the crime.
DIG Raza confirmed that an accomplice of Ali had been arrested previously. The initial suspect, described as a watchman at Bara Market, was taken into custody last week. However, two other accomplices, employed at the Shalimar bus terminal, remain at large.
Investigators have identified the victim as a Hindu girl who had recently moved to Karachi from Sukkur with her mother to care for a sick relative. Her mother had gone to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment on the night of August 24, and upon her return around 2 a.m., she found her daughter missing.
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah have directed the police to expedite the investigation and ensure the arrest of all those involved in the case.
In a broader context, Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed reported that 522 cases of sexual assault involving women and underage girls were recorded in Karachi in 2023. Additionally, there were over 4,040 cases of physical assault on women, with 22 bodies exhumed on court orders.
Nationwide, Sahil, an NGO focused on child welfare, revealed that in 2023, there were 4,213 reported cases of child abuse across Pakistan.
The data showed that 53% of the victims were girls, while 47% were boys, with the highest number of cases occurring among children aged 6-15. Most perpetrators were acquaintances or relatives of the victims.
