KARACHI: An eight-year-old girl was kidnapped from the Landhi area and subjected to criminal assault before being dumped in an unconscious condition in Surjani Town, police said on Friday.

Orangi SP Abid Ali Baloch told Dawn that the girl was recovered from Surjani Town on Thursday night. Initially, she was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medical check-up but a lady doctor allegedly refused to examine her, citing that she did not want to appear before a court as witness, the officer added. Subsequently, she was taken to the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre where doctors confirmed that she was raped, said SP Baloch.

The girl told the police that she was a resident of Future Colony.

The officer said that a message was sent on the police control to locate her family. On Friday afternoon, a man approached the police who was taken to the JPMC where the girl was being treated and he identified her as his daughter. The father told the police that his daughter was playing outside her home at around 5pm when she went missing.

The police were continuing investigations in the case.

NICH findings   Officials at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), where the victim was later shifted, said they had conducted all required medical tests. The findings confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted, they added.

“She is still in a state of shock,” said an official at the NICH while speaking to Dawn.

He said the child had been brought to the hospital late Thursday night. “The child found from Surjani Town had been handed over to us late on [Thursday] night,” said another official.

Doctors at the hospital said the child was heavily traumatised but recovering.

Meanwhile, Adviser to Chief Minister for Social Welfare Shamim Mumtaz visited the NICH where she inquired after the health of the child.

Social welfare officials said Ms Mumtaz was told that the victim had been “raped” in Future Colony. “She directed the hospital administration and doctors to provide her all possible treatment facilities,” said a ministry official.

During her visit, the official said, she was informed that a minor operation and several tests had been performed on the victim. “The doctors also informed the chief minister’s adviser that some samples had also been sent for forensic investigations,” said the official.

He said Ms Mumtaz also met the child’s mother, who informed her that she had gone missing after Iftar. “The mother told the adviser that police found the child in injured condition from Surjani Town in the early hours and shifted her to the hospital,” said the official.

The chief minister’s adviser promised the parents that the culprits involved in the incident would soon be brought behind bars.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2017