UMERKOT: A military court has sentenced a soldier to death in a case pertaining to rape and murder of a shepherd boy in Chhore.

Umerkot SSP Uzair Ahmed Memon told Dawn that Rahim Dad Malokhani was court-martialled and handed down capital punishment. He was handed over to local police who sent him to the Hyderabad central prison for the execution of the verdict.

According to an FIR lodged by victim`s brother Gul Hassan Mangrio at the Chhore police station, on April 28 13-yearold Ali Hassan had gone to receive payment for a bottle of honey he had sold to Rahim Dad.

The complainant stated that when the boy did not return home in Khet Singh village at his usual time, the family mounted a search for him and found his body in bushes behind the Combined Military Hospitals in the evening.

He said the marks of torture on the neck and other parts of the body were visible and there were signs that he might have been criminally assaulted before being killed.

The suspect, who was a resident of Hamzo Malokhani village in Tando Adam taluka, was arrested immediately after the boy`s body was found and he had confessed to the crime.

Umerkot SSP Uzair Ahmed Memon confirmed to Dawn on Friday that police received a letter from Pakistan Army which said Rahim Dad Malokhani was awarded death penalty after a court martial.

The brief letter seen by the reporter read `And whereas the said Field General Court Martial on the day of 13 June, 2024, passed the following sentence upon Lance Naik Rahim Dad (No.2801287), 57 Punjab Regiment: To suffer death as tazir` by being hanged by the neck until he be dead`.