ISLAMABAD: Pakistan police on Friday continued its hunt for a serial killer who they say raped and murdered eight-year-old girl, Zainab Ansari, in the Kasur city of Punjab province.

The girl, who was being looked after by her uncle while her parents were away on a pilgrimage, had gone missing on Thursday last week, adding to a list of at least 11 similar cases in the last one year, Efe news agency reported.

“The rapist or the murderer is a serial killer. In the previous incidents, the forensic evidence also determines it and the modus operandi of carrying out such acts also determines it,” spokesperson of Punjab province — where Kasur is located — Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan told reporters.

He said the authorities now have a suspect after interrogating 96 people, and have formed a special team to nab the perpetrator as soon as possible.

Preliminary examination of the minor’s body — that was recovered from a garbage dump on Tuesday — had revealed rape before she was killed, and led to violent protests in Kasur during which two people died and several acts of vandalism took place.

In August 2015, at least 19 minors were recorded on video and photographed by a network of 17 people in Ganda Singh Wala, which falls in Kasur area.

In April 2016, an anti-terrorism court had sentenced two accused to life imprisonment.

In March 2016, Pakistan passed a law against sexual abuse of minors and child pornography, making it punishable by up to seven years in prison.

The rape and murder of Zainab Ansari has had a profound impact on Pakistan, including protests and the sacking of a local police chief, in the two short days after the eight-year-old’s body was found on a rubbish tip in eastern Punjab on Tuesday.

Along with an international outcry, there have been violent protests in Lahore and Karachi, as well as in the city of Kasur, eastern Punjab, where she lived. Police said Zainab had been raped and strangled to death.

Public officials have attempted to contain the outpouring of anger from the public, saying that they are working hard to investigate whether there is a connection between Zainab’s death and the sexual assaults on eight other girls in the region in recent months.

Zainab disappeared as she walked to a religious studies class on Jan.4. Her parents were on a pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia, at the time and the child was staying with relatives.

Police on Thursday released CCTV images showing the child holding a man’s hand as she walked away from her home. They appealed for help identifying the man shown.

Her body was found at a rubbish tip more than a mile away from her home in Kasur, Pakistan, on Tuesday.

Police said she has been raped and strangled to death.

CCTV shows Zainab Ansari’s last moments as unknown man leads her away before her rape and murder

Zainab’s parents claimed the police were negligent in their attempts to find her after she was first reported missing. Her father, Ameen Ansari, said: “My relatives and neighbours told me that the police used to come, have food and leave.

“While they didn’t do anything, my friends and family spent day and night looking for my daughter.”

Anger at the state’s handling of the investigation erupted into violence on Wednesday, as protesters attacked the police station and government buildings while others threw rocks and smashed car windows with sticks.

Two protesters died in the unrest and dozens more were injured. Four police officers have since been arrested for firing into crowds in Kasur but the state has not confirmed whether the deaths are linked.

And with thousands then flocking to pay their respects at a funeral service held for the child in the city later on Wednesday, the authorities have acted to attempt to stave off the criticism.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif met Ansari on Thursday morning to hear his concerns, and assured him that justice would be done, according to officials.

Shahbaz also fired Kasur’s police chief over negligence in the case, according to a state government statement, and three police officers were arrested for opening fire at the mob instead of into the air during Wednesday’s clashes.

Zainab was the twelfth girl to have been abducted, raped and murdered in Kasur district in the past year, according to police.

“This is not the first time such horrific acts have happened,” the cricket star turned politician Imran Khan tweeted.

IANS / The Independent