A teenage girl employed at the house of a local businessmen died under mysterious circumstances in Sanghar, police said on Thursday.

According to the deceased's family, the girl died on Tuesday, September 19, at the house of a factory owner where she used to work as a maidservant.

The girl's brother has registered a murder case with Sanghar police against Seth Ratan — the employer — who has yet to be apprehended.

Mitho Bheel — a human rights activist who is pursuing the victim's family’s case — alleges that it is a case of murder but the medico-legal officer (MLO) had written it off as a suicide.

However, police have registered a case under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Senior Superintendent of Police Farrukh Lanjar, who nonetheless maintains that so far, it appears to be a case of suicide.

“According to the MLO, she was breathing when she was brought to the hospital with her neck bone broken,” he said, while adding that the case will remain open and all possible scenarios will be taken into account.

He confirmed that no arrests have been made in the case as yet, adding that the suspects absconded after the FIR was registered against them.

According to SSP Lanjar, the evidence suggested that the girl wanted to marry her cousin but could not do so as the Bheel community does not allow consanguineal marriages, which could have led her to commit suicide.

He added that the MLO had refused to share the postmortem exam report with the police.

According to the SSP, the girl's father had dropped her off at Seth Ratan’s house in the morning as per routine.

However, when he arrived to pick her up in the evening, the family told him that the girl had fever and was taken to the hospital.

Upon their arrival at the hospital, the family found that the girl had died under mysterious circumstances, the SSP concluded.