Daily Times

LAHORE: A DNA sample from one of the suspects has been found to match the remains collected from the body of Asma, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had sent DNA samples of 145 suspects to the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory for DNA testing as part of ongoing investigation into the rape and murder of the minor girl in Mardan.

One of the suspects’ DNA sample has matched the DNA remains of the deceased minor, Sanaullah said in a press conference in Lahore.

The name of the suspect in question has not been announced by the authorities yet.

The KP police has arrested three persons suspected to be involved in the murder.

Following the DNA match, the Punjab government contacted the KP government regarding the matter and sent it the report. “The family of the deceased told media that they found the body from the field, police came a day later,” the provincial law minister said. “KP IG tried to dilute the case, the police cordoned their home so that the family can’t speak to anyone. No action has been taken against even the constable of the locality for the negligence.” Sanaullah said that they even tried to create the perception that she died from natural causes, and now you can see the DNA has matched, he added.

He informed that 145 samples were sent by the KP police to Punjab Forensic Lab. “The lab has handed over the report to KP police. On the government level, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had strictly directed to not take any political mileage, in contrary to that you can see what they have done in Kasur,” he said.

The 4-year-old was playing outside her house in the Gojar Ghari area when she went missing last month. Her body was found a day later in a nearby sugarcane field.

Published in Daily Times, February 7^th 2018.