KARACHI: Carrying the coffin of the 10-year-old rape and murder victim girl, whose body was recovered from the Lyari River in Liaquatabad on Wednesday, Sikander Goth residents and relatives of the child staged a protest demonstration in Gulzar-i-Hijri on Thursday, demanding immediate arrest of the culprit(s).

While the protesters demanding justice blocked the main roads, the police authorities formed a committee led by a DIG to investigate all aspects of the gruesome rape and murder.

The relatives told the media that the girl went missing in Sikander Goth at around 11am on Tuesday.

They said her body, when discovered, was beyond recognition and it was identified by her sister throughher hair. She was identified as Sawera Jamil.

During the protest, traffic was suspended in Gulzar-i-Hijri for considerable time.

The protesters dispersed peacefully after assurances from police officers that the culprit(s) would be arrested soon.

Liaquatabad police SHO Ghulam Yasin said the body was found floating in the river near Angara Goth.

The corpse was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn on Thursday that hands of the victim were tied together with two ropes while a third rope was tied around her body.

She said it was a severe case of sexual abuse as the victim was subjected to immense physical trauma and rape.

The police surgeon said she was`definitely` murdered but the doctors would declare the exact cause of death after receipt of the chemical analysis report.

Dr Summaiya opined that it was possible that she was smothered to death before being thrown into the river.

Additional IGP Karachi Javed Alam Odho on Thursday set up a committee led by East DIG Usman Ghani to probe all aspects of the case in an impartial and transparent manner, according to a police statement issued here.

It said that the city police chief had taken a serious notice of the incident.

He directed the police to arrest the suspect(s) at the earliest so that justice could be provided to the bereaved family.

The family lodged a kidnapping case against unidentified suspects on Tuesday night.