KASUR: A youth raped an eight-year-old girl and threw her in a drain near Basti Qadirabad in Sadar police precincts on Sunday morning.

The locals chased the suspect and caught him when he was fleeing while the girl was referred to Lahore General Hospital (LGH) in precarious condition.

Residents of the area later staged a protest against the police and blocked Ferozepur Road by burning tyres to protest delay in registration of a case against the suspect.

Altaf, 22, abducted ‘S’ when she was returning home after giving breakfast to her father Tariq, a vendor who runs his business on a cart. He took the girl to a deserted orchard, raped her and later threw her in a dry water channel.

In the meanwhile, the family launched a search. Locals and family members spotted her near the orchard while the suspect was fleeing. They caught the suspect and handed him over to the police.

The family took the girl to DHQ Hospital from where she was referred to the LGH owing to her critical condition.

The police booked Altaf, a resident of Chunnian, in case No 348/10 under Section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Locals held a demonstration near DHQ Hospital and chanted slogans against the police. The demonstration was in progress till the filing of this report by 11:30pm.

DSP Abdul Rauf Chishti told Dawn the police had registered a case, but the matter was being politicised by local elected representatives and they were instigating the mob to continue the demonstration.
Source: Dawn
Date:5/24/2010