A 12-year girl was found raped and murdered in Karachi’s Saddar area on Sunday, police and hospital officials said.

According to Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed, the girl’s body, which was found in a bag, was brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) by Saddar police for medical examination.

“Initial post-mortem examination findings are suggestive of sexual violence,” said the surgeon.

She added that all swabs and samples have been collected for serology, DNA, and intoxication tests.

“The cause of death will remain undisclosed until reports are available,” Dr Syed added.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Syed Asad Raza said that a passerby informed the police about the body of the girl near a parking lot.

He said the girl had been subjected to sexual assault, adding that she looked like a “destitute girl from her appearance.”

Later in the day, DIG Raza said over half a dozen suspects were taken into custody for interrogation.

The officer said he had formed a special team led by Superintendent of Police Majida Halepoto to investigate the case.

Raza, in another statement issued later, said that the victim, along with her mother, had come from Sukkur many years ago to look after an ailing relative who lives under the Lilly Bridge in Cantt.

Her mother went to the JPMC for treatment on Saturday night and returned to the bridge at around 2am on Sunday, only to find her daughter missing.

The DIG said the victim girl had gone to a nearby restaurant to get free food when she was allegedly kidnapped.

He said CCTV footage obtained from the crime scene at Lucky Star showed that a bike rider came and left her body, adding that DNA samples of all eight suspects have been taken for investigation purposes.

Raza said the special team formed was also trying to obtain CCTV footage from the restaurant near the Lilly Bridge to ascertain the possible identity of the suspect(s).

He hinted at the possibility that she was poisoned to death as there were no injury marks on her body.

Sindh CM takes notice

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah also took notice of the incident.

“I am extremely saddened that such incidents are taking place in our society,” Murad lamented and directed a thorough investigation into the case to bring the culprits to justice.

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon had informed the CM that the girl’s body, kept in a bag, was recovered from the garbage dump near Lucky Star, according to a statement issued by the CM spokesperson Abdul Rasheed Channa.

The CM directed the police to take strict action against the suspects who committed injustices against children, women, elders, and vulnerable sections of society, the spokesperson added.

Murad also asked IG Memon to inform all police stations in the Sindh province about the government’s policy on vulnerable sections.

Despite the presence of laws in the country, sexual crimes against children continue across the country.

Child sexual abuse cases in country

In March this year, data released by Sahil — an NGO working for the welfare of children — revealed that in 2023, a total of 4,213 child abuse cases had been reported from all four provinces as well as the Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

A gender-divide analysis of the data showed that out of the total reported cases, 2,251 (53 per cent) of victims were girls and 1,962 (47 per cent) were boys. The reported age showed that children were most vulnerable to abuse in the age group of 6-15 years, in which more cases of boys than girls were reported.

Moreover, children as young as 0-5 years were also sexually abused. The abuser’s category indicated that acquaintances were still the most involved in child sexual abuse, along with relatives, family members, strangers, and women abettors.