On January 9, the body of Zainab a 7-year-old was discovered among a pile of trash at Shahbaz road, Kasur, in Pakistan. The girl had gone to a religious tuition on January 4 and had gone missing from there. A missing person's report was filed on January 5 and her body was recovered on January 9.
Zainab was staying with her maternal aunt as her parents had been in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage), according to her family, and she had been living with a maternal aunt.
Post morten reports revealed that the child had been raped before being killed. This is the 12th such case within the two-kilometer radius of the city in the past year. The incident has ignited anger among residents of Kasur. Protests have erupted with citizens casuing a complete shutdown of the city. There has been widespread outrage on social media as well over police's perceived inaction.
Two people have been killed due to gun shots fired in the air during protests. Though policemen too have opened fire, it has not been clear whethere the deaths were caused by policemen or the protesters.
The provincial government, Punjab CM, Senate, chief justice of Pakistan and the army chief have taken of the case. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that, "People need to keep their emotions in check and not aggravate the situation.” Zainab's parents maintian that they will not bury her body until justice is served.
