CJP takes notice of Asma’s murder, seeks report from KPK IGP

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – After Zainab murder case, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has taken notice of the murder of minor four-year-old Asma in Mardan. He has sought report from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General Police (IGP) within 24 hours. Earlier, a minor four-year-old girl was raped before being strangled to death in Mardan. The body of the Asma was found in a sugarcane field on Sunday in the Jandarpar Gujjar Garhi district of Mardan city, a day after she went missing. Police confirmed that the child died of asphyxiation and were investigating the claim of rape. According to the forensic report, the girl was subjected to violence. The incident comes as the country reels from the recent rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab Ansari, a case which ignited widespread protests and stirred uneasy conversations about the sexual abuse of children in a country where the issue is taboo. In 2017, at least 12 similar incidents were reported in the Kasur district alone, local media reported. In the first half of 2017, more than 1,750 cases of child abuse were reported across Pakistan, according to Sahil, a non-governmental organization that works on the issue of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Of the cases in the first six months of last year, 65 percent took place in Pakistan’s Punjab province.