Sargodha police on Thursday received a preliminary postmortem report of the seven-year-old girl found murdered earlier this week, which indicated possible rape before her killing.

The girl was found dead in a shop on Monday and four suspects were arrested, with one of them confessing to sexually assaulting and killing her during an interrogation.

Sargodha District Police Officer (DPO) Sohaib Ashraf told Dawn that doctors who performed the postmortem said the preliminary report indicated possible rape. However, he added that doctors were awaiting a final and detailed autopsy report for confirmation.

To a question, DPO Ashraf replied that the report pointed out multiple deep wounds on the girl’s head and neck, as if she had been hit hard with a blunt weapon during the incident.

Quoting the report, the DPO said the cause of death was excessive bleeding due to wounds suffered from a sharp object.

On Wednesday, Sargodha police said the prime suspect was killed “by his accomplices’ firing” during a reported encounter with the Crime Control Department (CCD), after he allegedly escaped police custody.

A first information report filed by a CCD station house officer early on Wednesday said the prime suspect, reportedly, escaped police custody on Tuesday. The details of how the prime suspect escaped from police custody and whether he was accompanied by anyone remain unclear.

The FIR

The arrests in the case were reported a day after police in Sargodha registered an FIR on the complaint of the girl’s father.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, has been registered under Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape or a minor), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for a shorter term) and 109 (punishment for abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The FIR quotes the complainant as saying that his daughter had gone to a kiryana store to buy some items, and that she often visited that shop. He told police he was worried when his daughter did not return and went to the shop along with some others.

“When we asked the shop owner about my daughter, he did not answer,” the complainant said, adding that he and others accompanying him then went to the shop’s third floor, where they saw the prime suspect.

“Upon seeing us, he threw away a knife he was holding and fled,” the complainant said. He added that he then went to his daughter, “who was breathing her last”.

The complainant accused the prime suspect of murdering her daughter after attempting to rape her.

He further alleged that the crime was committed at the behest of the shop owner and two other suspects, adding that he had an argument with the shop owner two days before the incident. The complainant alleged the shop owner had threatened him and said he would teach him a lesson for life.