10-year-old girl found dead in Lahore tuition centre

• Father lodges murder case with police.
• Probe widened after marks found on neck.
• Punjab law minister seeks police report.
  

LAHORE: Police have registered a murder case after a 10-year-old girl was found dead in the bathroom of a private tuition centre in Lahore’s Ichhra area, with investigators widening the probe.

The case was registered on the complaint of the girl’s father, Muhammad Adnan, while police said the post-mortem and forensic reports would determine the facts surrounding the child’s death.

According to police, The News reported, the victim ‘N’ had left her home to attend classes at the tuition centre in a house, where she had reportedly been studying for the past one-and-a-half years along with two other children of the same family. She was later discovered unconscious inside the centre’s washroom.

Eyewitnesses said that after teachers and the child’s family realised she was missing, they, along with local residents, broke open the locked washroom door. The girl was pulled out and rushed to the hospital. However, doctors pronounced her dead.

Speaking to the media later, SP Model Town said that investigators had initiated an inquiry and that the motive and circumstances surrounding the child’s death would only become clear after the investigation and post-mortem report were completed.

Meanwhile, the victim’s father recounted the sequence of events, saying he received a phone call informing him that his daughter had fallen unconscious at the tuition centre.

“I was informed that my daughter had fainted. She was brought to the hospital on a motorcycle with the help of local people,” he said. He claimed that doctors asked whether there had been marks on the child’s neck before the incident, but maintained that there were no such marks when she had left home.

“I believe someone has done this to my daughter. Who could do such a thing to children?” he said, while appealing to CM to ensure justice. Police officials have not ruled out any possibility at this stage and said all aspects of the case are being examined.

Separately, Punjab Law Minister Rana Muhammad Iqbal sought a report from the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) over the incident.

Expressing grief over the child’s death, the minister directed police to ensure a transparent and merit-based investigation.

“The affected family will be provided every possible justice,” Rana Iqbal said, adding that strict action would be taken against those found responsible.

The death comes less than two weeks after 14 children died after the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Lahore. The dead children were aged 5 to 16 with most below 9.