KASUR: Batonwielding women staged a demonstration at National Bank Chowk on Monday against the city police for their alleged favour to the suspected murder of a minor girl.

Ayesha went missing on Thursday and the family found her body on Sunday in a bag outside their house.

The family with the help of sniffer dogs tracked and captured a man identified as Javed in Ghala Mandi and tortured him severely suspecting him of the kidnapper-cumkiller of the girl. Police on being alerted arrived at the scene and captured the man from the mob.

Hours after the police took the suspect, identified as Javed, to police, the family with other residents forced the shopkeepers of Nia Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar, Daligiran Bazaar and Kumharan Bazaar to down their shutters.

The mob, mostly consisting of women, blocked the National Bank Chowk by burning tyres. They chanted slogans against the police and alleged that the city police were giving favours to Javed at the police station.

The city police officials arrived at the scene where the charged protesters hit them with empty bottles.

Seeing the mob charged, police tool< to their heels.

Later, on an assurance of Station House Officer Malik Tariq that the accused would be arrested and dealt with an iron hand, the protestersdispersed.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Muhammad Hassan Farooq said that the residents were a creating abstractions in investigation as they did not police to interrogate any other person from the area.

He said the medical report show the girl was not raped.

He also said Javed, who was residing in a rented house at Mohalla Sirki Bandha, was badly injured by the mob and police could not interrogate him due to his wounds.

JI: Jamaat-i-Islami Secretary General Liaqat Baloch said on Monday the government should take constitutional measures to discourage religious bigotry and sectarianism.

He told reporters after condoling with the family of Muhammad Naeem at Mustafabad, one of the victims lynched in Youhanabad, that since the creation of Pakistan in 1947, secular powers were striving to damage Pakistan through sectarianism and religious bigotry.

He added the same powers plotted in the garb of attacks on Churches and the lynching of two innocent people. He said that burning alive two people was the worst form of terrorism and the government should provide justice to the bereaved families.

Mr Baloch said the incident had damaged the image of both the country and the Christian community.