ISLAMABAD: A three-year-old girl who was kidnapped on Tuesday was found murdered in a wooded area, located about one-and-a-half kilometres from a police station, on Wednesday, police said.

It was also suspected that the girl had been raped before her murder based on the physical condition of her body.

According to the FIR registered over the incident, the girl went missing on Tuesday afternoon at around 2pm, while police registered a kidnapping report at 11pm, almost nine hours after her disappearance.

The case was registered under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint lodged by her mother.

According to the FIR, the girl was playing in a street when she disappeared. Her disappearance came to light when her mother checked on her at around 2pm but found her missing from the street. She later approached the police and lodged a complaint.

The Capital Police Public Relations Branch said the victim’s mother approached the police at 11pm, after which the report and FIR were registered.

Later, a team was constituted and a search operation was conducted.

CCTV footage from cameras installed in the area was also examined, which revealed that a man was taking the girl away at around 2pm.

The man was later identified as the girl’s brother-in-law.

Following the identification, police picked up the man and during interrogation, he confessed to killing the girl and dumping her body in a wooded area about one-and-a-half kilometres from the police station.

The police took the man to the location and recovered the girl’s body. The man had strangled the girl with a waistband.

The condition of the body suggested that she had been raped before being strangled. The body was later shifted to a hospital for further legal procedures.

After the autopsy, the girl’s body was handed over to her family for burial. Samples were also collected from her body for tests to establish whether she had been subjected to torture and rape.

Police produced the man before a magistrate, who granted him physical remand.

Meanwhile, Vice President of the Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sherry Rehman strongly condemned the tragic incident involving the rape and murder of the girl.

Expressing deep sorrow over the incident, the senator said brutality against an innocent child was inhumane and such incidents were a black stain on society. She demanded that the culprit be given exemplary punishment to set an example, adding that such culprits deserved no leniency.

She said legislation for child protection already existed and the law must take its own course. She further said strict implementation of laws for the protection of children was indispensable and a zero-tolerance policy against crimes against children was the only solution.

She appealed to the court to complete the trial at the earliest and provide justice to the bereaved family.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2026