Police arrest five suspects in brutal murder and assault case of seven-year-old girl

Police apprehend shop owner and accomplices after father discovers dying daughter on shop's third floor.

Sargodha police have arrested five suspects on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a seven-year-old girl whose body was discovered inside a local shop. The prime suspect has confessed during interrogation to sexually assaulting and killing the child, and a senior official from the Crime Control Department (CCD) confirmed that initial DNA test results have already revealed a match with him. Civil Judge Imran Farooq has granted the CCD a six-day physical remand of the prime suspect to proceed with the investigation.

The arrests were made a day after the Sargodha City Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on the complaint of the victim’s father. The case has been formally registered under multiple sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including Section 302 for murder, Section 376 for the rape of a minor, Section 511 for attempting to commit life-imprisonment offences, and Section 109 for abetment. According to the FIR, the victim had gone to a local kiryana store that she frequently visited to buy some items, but she failed to return home.

The complainant stated that when he and a few others went to the shop to ask about his missing daughter, the shop owner refused to answer. The search party then went up to the third floor of the shop, where they caught the prime suspect. Upon seeing them, the suspect threw down a knife he was holding and fled the scene. The father found his daughter at the site, where she was tragically breathing her last before succumbing to her injuries.

The father has accused the prime suspect of murdering his daughter after attempting to rape her, adding that the criminal acts were committed at the behest of the shop owner and two other suspects. The complainant revealed that he had a heated argument with the shop owner two days prior to the incident, during which the owner threatened him and vowed to teach him a lesson for life. While an official police statement on X initially confirmed the arrest of the prime suspect, the shop owner, and two others, Sargodha District Police Officer (DPO) Sohaib Ashraf confirmed to Dawn that a fifth suspect has also been taken into custody, though specific details regarding the fifth individual’s involvement have not yet been shared.