A nine-year-old girl in Thatta district was allegedly sexually assaulted as she was returning home from tuition on Sunday.

The child's father said in the first information report (FIR) that the prime suspect had lured the girl into his shop in the Bilal Nagar locality in Dhabeji town with the help of a friend, where she was subjected to the assault.

The girl was rushed to Gharo Taluka Hospital where an initial medical checkup by one Dr Rukhsana confirmed the assault, Mohammad Alam, a police official at the Dhabeji police station told Dawn on Monday.

Both the prime suspect and his 'accomplice' have been arrested.

The prime suspect has confessed to the crime, Dhabeji Station House Officer (SHO) Gul Hassan said, adding that the police are investigating whether his suspected accomplice also raped the minor.

The SHO added that the FIR was registered under Sections 376 [Punishment for rape], 364-A [Kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of fourteen] and 34 [Acts done by several persons In furtherance of common intention] of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).