RAWALPINDI: A minor girl who disappeared after leaving her house on Thursday night to buy some firewood was recovered from a nearby house on Friday morning after allegedly being subjected to sexual assault in Westridge area.

After allegedly raping and kidnapping a 12-year-old girl in Mohalla Sulemanabad area of Westridge police station in Rawalpindi, the accused, who tried to escape from the area with the girl, was caught by the girl’s relatives and residents.

Panic gripped the area as a large number of people gathered there and beat the alleged rapist and beat him up in anger.

A video of the accused being beaten by the relatives and people of the area has also surfaced. However, the accused managed to escape before the police arrived at the scene.

Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Babar Sarfraz Alpa took strict notice of the serious incident and ordered the police to reach the spot, supervise the investigation and arrest the accused. The police have registered a case on the request of the girl’s father Gulfraz, in which the father took the position that he is a resident of Sulemanabad locality and is a labourer.

He said that his 12-year-old daughter went to get firewood from the street at night and did not return. He started searching for her and kept searching all night but the girl was not found. In the morning, during the search, he saw that the accused was taking his daughter with him.

He said that after he stopped him and asked him why he was taking his daughter, his daughter told him that Nazimullah had tricked her and taken her to his sitting room where he raped her.

In the meantime, a large crowd gathered in the street. The crowd got angry and started beating the suspect. Nazimullah took advantage of the rush and fled the scene.

Police officials said a case has been registered and hoped that he will be arrested soon.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2026