KASUR The City

Police fail to arrest killer of minor girl
From M Saleemur Rahman
KASUR: The police have failed to arrest the killer of a three-year-old girl, Ayesha, despite passage of over 13 days.
The minor went missing on March 19 while playing outside her house in Mohallah Sirki Bandan, Kasur. On March 22, her body packed in a plastic bag was found outside her house early in the morning.
The city police were called, but they failed to collect forensic evidence including killer’s fingerprints on the bag and body. The area people believe the killer could have been arrested had the police cordoned off the area after recovery of the body and investigated the suspects by matching the fingerprints.
The body was taken to DHQ Hospital for post-mortem. The medical report said the killer had strangulated the minor.
After the incident, angry people came out on roads, burnt tyres, broke windowpanes and glass doors of many shops to force them to shut their business. They also caught a suspect and thrashed him. Later, the police got him released before he was lynched by the mob. Police also arrested more than six suspects, but failed to find any clue to the real killer.
Mohallah Sirki Bandan is a compound type area where no outsider could enter without being witnessed by the dwellers. There are only two or three entry and exit points and mostly the residents of the Mohallah come into and go out of it daily. Women and boys keep sitting outside their houses almost 24 hours, and disappearance of a child in the area is really strange, said the area people.
Since the occurrence of the incident, three protest demonstrations have been held by the area people. A police team comprising DSP City Hussain Farooq, SHO A-Division Malik Tariq, SHO B-Division Kifayat Ali, CIA Inspector Mian Farid are investigating jointly, but has failed so far to arrest the killer.
Some area women claim the girl was killed for black magic.
Various notables of the area including Maj (retd) Habibur Rahman and former nazim Sardar Fakhar have demanded replacing the inefficient police with trained and expert cops if the killer is not arrested immediately.
SHO Malik Tariq other police officials told The News Mohallah people were not cooperating with the police. However, they claimed, the killer would be arrested soon.
Asadullah, father of the deceased, has demanded of Lahore High Court chief justice, Punjab chief minister IGP Punjab to take notice on the incident and help arrest the killer.