Daily Times

The police teams on Wednesday arrested eight more suspects during the investigation of the tragic incident of Mona aka Monika Larik in Khairpur district.

The body of an-eight-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and strangled to death and was found in a banana orchard in village Laung Khan Larik within the limits of Pir Jo Goth of Khairpurkar district on Monday.

With the arrest of eiht more people including the close relatives of the victim, the number of the arrested suspects rose to 20 with no further clue about the actual killers of Mona Larik. The Soyem of the victim was also held in the village on Wednesday and the people from different walks of life attended the rituals and offered their condolences with the father of the victim. The father, relatives and other people, who attended the Soyem of the minor girl expressed their grief over the tragic incident and expressed their anger over the inactiveness of the lawmakers from the district, who did bother to visit the area to either offer their condolences or console the aggrieved family members. Mr Fida Hussain Mastoi, the DIG of Suku Fida Hussain Mastoi, who reached the village along with SSP Khairpur Ameer Saud Masi talking to the media persons informed that the victim used to work as a housemaid at a house located at around a kilometre’s distance from her residence.

Her father is a motorbike rickshaw driver and has eight children, added Mr Mastoi. The girl often used to stay at her employers’ house and it was in the knowledge of her parents, which is why they did not notice her absence until a day after she went missing.

“But when she didn’t return home for two days they approached the family [where she used to work] and came to know that the girl had left two days earlier and did not stay there,” the DIG said. When the parents mounted a search in the area, they found a part of her slipper and when efforts to locate her were accelerated, they found the utensils that she used to carry to bring food home.

“The parents eventually found her body in the nearby banana orchard,” DIG Mastoi added. He said the footprints of two suspects were also found near the spot where the child’s body was found.The girl’s postmortem was performed at Pir Jo Goth rural health centre (RHC), while a medical examination suggested that before being strangulated, she was subjected to rape, according to the DIG.

An FIR was registered against three unidentified persons under Sections 302, 376/2, 364-A and 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act on the complaint of the girl’s father at Pir Jo Goth police station.In the FIR, the complainant said that his daughter had left home on Jan 9 to work at a house in Hadal Shah village but did not return for next two days.

He said when inquired about her whereabouts, the owner of the house where she worked said the girl had not come to their house for the last three days.The father said he then started a search with the help of relatives and found her body in the same village. He alleged that three people had subjected her to rape and then strangulated her in the orchard.

The SSP Mr Magsi told that they had sent the samples of the girl and blood samples of the suspects for DNA testing to the Forensic and Molecular Biology Laboratory of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS). While the rights activists, members of the civil society and the people from different walks of life resumed their protest in various cities and towns for the arrest of the culprits involved in the tragic incident.

As many as 29 family members fell unconscious after eating tainted food in Tharparkar district. As many as 29 members fell unconscious in village Siansar near Mithi town of Tharparkar district on Wednesday. The family members including children and women started vomiting and fainted after reportedly eating some tainted foods at their house. All the affected people were rushed toi civil hospital in Mithi where they were admitted for treatment. The duty doctors confirmed the food poisoning behind the cause of their unconsciousness and said that they were busy treating them.