KARACHI: An Afghan boy, who had gone missing on Sunday, was sexually assaulted and murdered in Gulshan-i-Maymar on Monday, police said.

The incident prompted the city police chief to order an investigation team, led by the DIG-West, to ensure arrest of the ‘brutal’ killers within three days.

The police said the trussed-up body of the five-year-old boy was found in a hilly area off Northern Bypass near Afghan Basti.

Gulshan-i-Maymar SHO Bashir Wadho said that the body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) for a post-mortem examination.

The police said the boy went missing from Afghan Basti on Sunday at around 12noon, but the family did not lodge any report.

The deceased’s father told the media that he had no enmity with anyone.

After the autopsy, Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that the physical findings suggested that the boy was sexually assaulted.

“The face was covered with a plastic bag. His hands were tied behind his back with nylon wire and he was strangled to death,” she said.

The area SHO said that an FIR was lodged on the complaint of the child’s father, who is an Afghan, under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Taking notice of the incident, Karachi police chief Javed Odho formed an investigation team and directed it to submit a progress report within three days, said a police spokesperson.

“The police should exercise all possible resources to ensure arrest of the brutal killers,” the police chief ordered.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2022