KARACHI: A minor girl was raped and murdered in Lines Area, on Tuesday, police and hospital officials said Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that the 12-year-old girl was brought dead from Jacob Lines within the jurisdiction of the Brigade police station to the medico-legal section of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre at 2pm.

She added that a post-mortem examination was carried out after receiving the inquest papers from the investigation officer concerned.

“Physical findings are strongly suggestive of violent sexual assault and her death occurred due to asphyxia resulting from strangulation,” the police surgeon said, adding that samples had been collected for DNA profiling and cross-matching. East-SSP Syed Abdul Rahim Shirazi told Dawn that one suspect had been arrested in the case.

Brigade SHO Khalid Rafiq told Dawn that the police had received information from the JPMC medico-legal section that the body of a 12-year-old girl was brought at the hospital and the family was claiming that she had committed suicide by hanging herself at around 3pm.

The SHO said the family wanted to take away the body without an autopsy. But the police got her autopsy report and a lady medico-legal official told the police that she had been murdered after rape.

The officer said the body had been taken to the morgue.

The police were waiting for the family to lodge an FIR with the police station concerned.