UMERKOT, Dec 4: A shutterdown was observed in Ghulam Nabi Shah town on Tuesday in protest against the police failure to track down the culprits of a criminal assault on a six-year-old Hindu girl on Sunday.

Several hundred people, mostly Hindus, held rallies in Umerkot, Dhoronaro and Ghulam Nabi Shah and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. MNAs Dr Khatumal Jeewan and Pir Aftab Hussain Shah Jeelani visited the victim’s family members on Tuesday and assured them that the culprits would be taken to task.

The girl was dumped at a desolate place within Ghulam Nabi Shah town after being subjected to a criminal assault and she was later admitted to the Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas for treatment.

Sindh Minister for Population Welfare Syed Ali Mardan Shah also visited the victim at the hospital on a special directive of Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and asked the doctors to ensure best medical facilities for her free of cost.

Dr Khatumal Jeewan told Dawn that the victim girl was assaulted near a guest house. He said that sniffer dogs brought by Umer Mangrio, the former taluka nazim of Pithoro, tracked the footprints of culprit into the same guest house.

Meanwhile, Meghwar community members from Umerkot, Sanghar, Pithoro, Kunri, Samaro, Tharparkar and other areas visited the affected family in large numbers and took out protest rallies to press the government to get the culprits arrested.

The Pithoro police have registered a case against unknown suspects on the complaint of Bhano, the uncle of the victim girl.

Our Mirpurkhas correspondent adds: The population minister told the media that three teams of the Umerkot police had been set up to investigate the case and arrest the culprits.

He said that action would be taken against those doctors and other hospital staff who did not provide proper medical treatment to the girl when she was taken to the Umerkot hospital.

Civil Surgeon Dr Asghar Ali Arain who examined the girl on Tuesday said that her condition was improving as she had stopped bleeding.

He said that initial reports suggested the girl was subjected to criminal assault.