LAHORE: A teenage boy on Monday confessed in police custody to have committed necrophilia after murdering his seven-year-old cousin at a village in Mohlanwal area and then dumped her body in a pond.

According to police, the minor girl (name withheld), daughter of a labourer, a resident of a village in Mohlanwal area, was lured by her cousin and his friend to a deserted place, where he committed the heinous act.

The girl’s parents noticed her absence later in the day and reported the matter to police.

Deputy Inspector General Shariq Jamal of Lahore police’s investigation wing, in a press conference here on Monday, said after being reported the matter the police, on the suspicion of the victim’s father, detained his nephew Rizwan Yousuf and his friend Allah Dita, who was a witness to the brutal crime.

The DIG said the victim’s parents first thought she had gone to a local madressah to learn the holy Quran. However, when she did not return for some hours, her father approached the police.

Later, a police team constituted for the purpose managed to recover body of the girl from a pond, a few hundred yards away from her house.

During interrogation, the DIG said, the prime suspect confessed to his crime.

The suspect, who was presented before the media, along with his friend (co-suspect), told reporters: “First, I strangled her to death and then sexually assaulted [her dead body] to take revenge from my uncle (the victim’s father), as he used to admonish me over petty issues”.

While recording his video statement and talking to the media persons, he said, he lured the victim to a nearby forest, where he committed the heinous crime.

“Being her cousin, I was sure she would not reject my offer of Rs10 and would accompany me to the nearby forest, where I wanted to take her to commit the planned crime,” Rizwan said.

To a question, he added that his uncle (father of the victim) won’t let her play with her and used to admonish him whenever he would go near the child.

After committing the crime and dumping the victim’s body in the pond, the suspect fled the scene, but after a couple of hours returned home.

The girl’s father told the reporters that he would avoid Rizwan because of his “bad character”.

He said they were living in a joint house and on many occasions he had cautioned Rizwan to stay away from his minor daughter.

He regretted that finally the suspect did the same what he (the father) had been apprehending. The co-suspect in the case, Allah Dita, denied the allegations that he was accompanying Rizwan when he committed the crime.

A case has been registered and the victim’s body was sent to the city morgue for the postpartum examination.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2020