Second Day of Protests Over Child Rape and Murder

Demonstrators accuse police of failing to act against perpetrators of child murders

Hundreds of protesters enraged over the murder of a young girl threw stones at government buildings in Kasur for a second day on Thursday, amid growing outrage over the killing.

The demonstrators hurled projectiles at a hospital, attacked the home of at least one local politician, and complained of police inaction in the city of Kasur in Punjab province, a day after two protesters were killed when the rallies turned violent. The outrage has spilled over in Kasur after the body of a child was found in a garbage heap Tuesday, where she is believed to have been dumped after being raped and murdered.

The child, named as Zainab, is the eighth minor to have been raped and murdered in Kasur in the past 12 months, police have said. Officials had earlier put her age at eight, but her family told AFP that she was just six years old.

“Up to 1,000 protesters are in the streets,” said Kasur police spokesman Muhammad Sajid. “They have thrown stones on the buildings of the government hospital, police and deputy commissioner’s office… Security is deployed and trying to control the situation.”

The demonstrators had accused police of failing to act over the child murders.

Sajid said that up to 20 suspects had been apprehended “but the investigators have been unable to find any clue so far.”

“Police are not cooperating with us,” claimed Ghulam Rasool, an uncle of Zainab. “We want justice. We want the culprit to be brought in front of us. We don’t want an innocent to be presented as the culprit and killed just to wash this case.”

Zainab’s killing has sparked a social media deluge, with politicians, celebrities, cricketers and average Pakistanis demanding #JusticeForZainab.

On Wednesday at least two protesters were killed when police fired into the crowd of demonstrators as they tried to storm a government building in Kasur, a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Anger at police has been fueled by Kasur’s infamy as the site of what has been dubbed Pakistan’s largest child abuse scandal. The 2015 scandal saw allegations that at least 280 children were filmed being sexually abused by a gang of 25 men who blackmailed their parents by threatening to leak the videos.

It came to light after parents of the victims clashed with police in Kasur during a protest blasting authorities for failing to prosecute the case. The Punjab government has announced a reward of 10 million rupees for information leading to the killer’s capture, as well as compensation packages for the protesters killed on Wednesday. </s> Hundreds of protesters enraged over the murder of a young girl threw stones at government buildings in a Pakistani city near the Indian border for a second day Thursday, amid growing outrage over the killing.

The demonstrators hurled projectiles at a hospital, attacked the home of at least one local politician, and complained of police inaction in the city of Kasur in Punjab province, a day after two protesters were killed when the rallies turned violent.

The outrage has spilled over in Kasur after the body of a child was found in a garbage heap Tuesday, where she is believed to have been dumped after being raped and murdered.

The child, named as Zainab, is the eighth minor to have been raped and murdered in Kasur in the past 12 months, police have said.

Officials had earlier put her age at eight, but her family told AFP that she was just six years old.

"Up to 1,000 protesters are in the streets," Kasur police spokesman Muhammad Sajid told AFP.

"They have thrown stones on the buildings of the government hospital, police and deputy commissioner's office... Security is deployed and trying to control the situation."

The demonstrators had accused police of failing to act over the child murders.

Sajid said that up to 20 suspects had been apprehended "but the investigators have been unable to find any clue so far".

"Police are not cooperating with us," Ghulam Rasool, an uncle of Zainab, told AFP.

"We want justice. We want the culprit to be brought in front of us. We don't want an innocent to be presented as the culprit and killed just to wash this case."

Zainab's killing has sparked a social media deluge, with politicians, celebrities, cricketers and average Pakistanis demanding #JusticeForZainab.

On Wednesday at least two protesters were killed when police fired into the crowd of demonstrators as they tried to storm a government building in Kasur, a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Anger at police has been fuelled by Kasur's infamy as the site of what has been dubbed Pakistan's largest child abuse scandal.

The 2015 scandal saw allegations that at least 280 children were filmed being sexually abused by a gang of 25 men who blackmailed their parents by threatening to leak the videos.

It came to light after parents of the victims clashed with police in Kasur during a protest blasting authorities for failing to prosecute the case.

The Punjab government has announced a reward of 10 million rupees ($90,000) for information leading to the killer's capture, as well as compensation packages for the protesters killed Wednesday. </s> KASUR: Normalcy seemed to return to Kasur on Friday after several days of protest following the discovery of seven-year-old Zainab's brutal rape and murder.

Markets opened after being shut for at least two days as traders announced an end to their strike while traffic began plying on roads that had been blocked by enraged residents protesting the gruesome incident.

The minor girl, a resident of Road Kot area of Kasur, had gone missing on January 4 when she ventured out of the house. Her body was found in a garbage pile near Kashmir Chowk five days later.



As protests re-erupted in the city on Thursday, the house of local provincial lawmaker Naeem Safdar was ransacked. Police also failed to stop the protesters from ransacking the local government hospital.

Residents protested across the city, including Kali Pul Chowk, whereas the Ferozepur Road, linking Kasur to nearby towns and cities, also remained blocked.

Moreover, protest demonstrations over the incident were held across the country, from Peshawar to Karachi. 



The funeral of the two protesters allegedly killed by the police firing, Shoaib and Mohammad Ali, was held in the city's college ground.

Moreover, the funeral prayers of two protesters allegedly killed by police firing a day earlier were held on Thursday.

Two policemen and as many civil defence officials have been held for firing on protesters while murder charges have been included in two FIRs registered against 16 unidentified policemen on the complaints of the deceased's brothers. </s> KASUR: An enraged mob on Thursday stormed dera of a lawmaker belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz shortly after prayers for two men killed by Punjab police were offered .



The men were killed during protest against rape and murder of Zainab - a minor girl from Kasur - on Wednesday.

According to Geo News, a group of protesters forced their entry into the dera (political office) of Naeem Safdar Ansari and set fire to chairs and vehicles parked near the political office of the MPA .

Safdar , who was elected from PP-177 (Kasur-III), was not present at his office when it came under attack.

Police were firing tear gas shells to disperse the protesters and fire tenders were called in to extinguish the fire.

According to Geo TV, scores of protesters were pelting the police with stones as the officers moved to disperse them.

A large number of people including politicians and religious scholars attended the funeral prayers .

Protests continued for the second consecutive day with some of the demonstrators attacking District Headquarters Hospital hours after Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited the bereaved family to offer his condolence.

Kasur is boiling with anger as the stick wielding protesters took to streets blocking roads forcing and enforcing market closures for the second consecutive day on Thursday.

Seven-year-old Zainab was laid to rest amid scenes of mourning and tears on Wednesday night as hundreds of thousand people attended the funeral prayer of fairy-like innocent girl.

Despite all the tall claims, the police have not been able to nab the man who was seen taking her along in the CCTV video.

Protests broke out in the city soon after the body of seven-year old girl, who went missing last week, was found dumped in a trash pile. It is the 12th such incident of the same nature in Kasur, in which minor girls were molested and murdered after abduction. Culprits, involved in any of these incidents, have not been apprehended.

Protesters took to streets, forcing closure of markets and setting many vehicles on fire. Two people were reported killed during the clashes with police when a group of protesters stormed the office of Deputy

Meanwhile, two separate First Information Reports (FIRs), on the behalf of Kashif Imran and Rizwan Ahmad, have been registered against police personnel over opening fire on the protesters.

The incident has sparked outrage across the country. Politicians, celebrities and sportsmen took to social media to condemn the shocking incident, demanding justice and raising questions over the government's failure to punish the culprits, aiders, abetters of the 2015 Kasur child abuse case as well as abysmal protection of minors in the region.

According to details, forensic examination of the body has confirmed that the girl identified as Zainab was raped before being killed.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident and has sought report from the authorities and constituted a joint investigation team to probe the issue.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar has taken the suo moto notice of Zainab’s brutal rape and murder, ordering Inspector General Punjab (IGP) to submit the report in next 24 hour in this connection.

Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has strongly condemned cold blooded murder of minor girl Zainab in Kasur, and directed immediate all out support to civil administration to arrest the criminals and bringing them to exemplary justice.

Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai has condemned cold blooded murder of minor girl Zainab in Kasur, saying she was heartbroken to hear about Zainab. </s> A mob angered over the recent rape and murder of an 8-year-old Pakistan girl attacked a police station and a nearby government building in eastern Punjab province on Wednesday, triggering clashes that left at least two people dead and several injured, police said.

The violence erupted in the city of Kasur hours before the funeral of Zainab Ansari, whose case has drawn wide public outrage.

The girl went missing last week while going to a nearby home for Quranic studies. Her parents, who were away at a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia at the time, returned on Wednesday, landing at the Islamabad airport.

Zainab’s body was found on Tuesday in a garbage bin, senior police officer Imran Nawaz Khan said. Police say she was abducted, raped and murdered. Officer Maqsood Ahmed said six girls were sexually assaulted in recent months in Kasur and that police were probing whether there was a connection in the cases.

WATCH: Pakistani student beaten to death by peers in latest ‘blasphemy killing’

Activists on social media have condemned the government for failing to arrest those involved in the crime.

As the attack on the police station and the subsequent clashes unfolded Wednesday, local TVs broadcast footage showing police firing shots in the air and toward the stone-pelting mob, trying to disperse it. In one segment, an officer asks another to hold direct fire, after which the second officer is seen continuing to shoot at the protesters.

Also Wednesday, the Lahore High Court’s chief justice ordered a probe into Zainab’s killing.

Zulfiqar Hameed, the police chief in Kasur, refused to say whether the two people killed in Wednesday’s clashes had died from police gunshots. Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the police were trying to contain the violence and find and arrest those involved in the girl’s murder.

Kasur shop owners shut their businesses Wednesday to express their anger over Zainab’s slaying.

READ MORE: Why are women in Pakistan and India at risk of brutal violence?

Firebrand cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri who took part in Ansari’s funeral service demanded the local government be replaced, saying it has “no right to remain in power after the killing of Zainab Ansari.”

In a speech to thousands of mourners, he blamed the Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, for failing to “protect lives and honour of innocent girls” in the province.

Qadri also issued an ultimatum to Sharif and Sanaullah to step down by Jan. 17 to avoid street protest.

Qadri is a staunch political rival of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party and he has led violent rallies in the capital, Islamabad, since 2014 after eight of his supporters were killed in anti-government rallies in Lahore, Punjab provincial capital. </s> KARACHI (AFP) - At least one man was killed and several injured in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi on Tuesday (April 17) when a riot broke out in protest at the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.

Crowds took to the streets after the body of the victim was discovered late on Monday, blocking a main road in the western suburb of Orangi Town in western Karachi where they hurled stones at riot police.

"One man has died because of a gunshot," said Aamir Farooqi, the police chief in the district. "We are investigating whose bullet caused that death." A second police official confirmed the figure.

Relatives of the girl and hundreds of residents were angry over what they say has been police laxity in the case. A medical report said the child had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

As the demonstration boiled over, police fired in the air over the crowd and attacked demonstrators with batons.

Two protesters suffering from gunshot wounds were brought to nearby Abbasi Shaheed hospital, where one died later.

Another senior police officer said 10 to 15 police officials were injured during the violence.

The rioting comes months after six-year-old Zainab Fatima Ameen was raped and killed in eastern Pakistan's city of Kasur, sparking nationwide outrage and soul-searching over how the country fails to protect its most vulnerable.

In February a Pakistani court handed down four death sentences on the man charged with the killing.

The protests also come as a series of rapes in neighbouring India have sparked demonstrations there. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The rape and murder of six-year-old Zainab sparked outrage in Pakistan

Protesters have set a government office on fire in the Pakistani city of Kasur, in a second day of riots after the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.

Zainab Ansari's body was found in a rubbish dump on Tuesday, several days after she went missing. She had been raped and strangled.

Describing his grief, her father told the BBC: "It's like the world has ended... I have no words."

Police in Kasur say there have been 12 similar murders in the past two years.

They say five of them are linked to one suspect who is being hunted by hundreds of officers. DNA samples have also been taken from 90 possible suspects.

A post-mortem report suggested that Zainab had been brutally assaulted. The report found injuries on her body and face, and a bone in her neck fractured.

Zainab's father, Ameen Ansari, told the BBC that he did not agree with the violence of protesters, but understood the anger at police.

"If the police had done their jobs properly then they would have found her as soon as they got hold of the CCTV," he said.

Image caption Zainab's father, Ameen Ansari, said: "It's like the world has ended"

Local politicians have met the family and promised the killer would be caught.

On Thursday, protesters threw stones at government buildings and set cars and a local politician's office alight, complaining that police had not done more to stop violence against children.

Image caption Riots continued in Kasur on Thursday

A local police spokesman told AFP news agency "up to 1,000" people had taken to the streets.

"They had thrown stones on the buildings of the government hospital, police and deputy commissioner's office... security is being deployed and trying to control the situation," he said.

Two protesters were killed on Wednesday after an angry crowd tried to storm the local police headquarters, and police opened fire.

The Punjab government is offering a 10m rupee ($90,000; £67,000) reward for anyone who helps police find and arrest Zainab's killer, and has offered 3m rupees each to the families of those killed by police on Wednesday, the BBC was told.

Kiran Naz, a news anchor on Pakistan's Samaa TV, hosted Thursday's bulletin with her young daughter on her lap as an act of protest.

Opening her segment, she said: "Today I am not Kiran Naz, rather I am a mother today and that is why I am sitting with my daughter."

Referring to Zainab, she said "the smallest coffins are the heaviest, and the entire society is burdened by the weight of her coffin". </s> Protesters marched for a second day Thursday in the Pakistani city of Kasur over the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl whose body was found dumped on a garbage pile.

Zainab Amin’s killing has angered local people who say the authorities in Punjab province have done too little to keep their children safe after a series of similar killings.

At least two people died Wednesday as protesters clashed with police.

Punjab’s Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif ordered police to arrest the girl’s killers in the next 24 hours and offered a 10 million Pakistani rupee bounty (over $90,000) for anyone who helps identify those responsible.

He also asked police to provide full details of the 11 murders of young girls in the same area before that of Zainab.

Amid rising anger, demonstrators ransacked the office of a local lawmaker for the ruling party, Naeem Safdar, on Thursday and chanted slogans calling for the resignation of Shehbaz Sharif.

An autopsy has confirmed that Zainab was strangled and sodomized and suggests she was raped, the medical officer who carried out the examination, Dr Quratulain Atique, told CNN.

There were torture marks on her face and Zainab’s tongue was crushed between her teeth, she said. The report suggests that when the autopsy was performed, she may have been dead for two or three days already.

Geo News reported that Zainab was taken from near her home in Kasur on January 4 while her parents were in Saudi Arabia on an Umrah pilgrimage. Surveillance video provided by the family to police shows Zainab being led away by a man.

Her father, Muhammad Amin Ansari, now back in Pakistan, told Geo News that police were not doing enough to find their child. He said they would not bury their daughter until those responsible were arrested.

Kasur district was previously at the center of a child sexual abuse scandal in which a gang of up to 25 men was accused of blackmailing scores of children into making sex videos between 2009 and 2014. The abuse was uncovered in 2015 and a number of suspects arrested.

The experience has scarred the local community. “For the last two years, we are living in fear, parents are scared to send their kids outside,” Zainab’s father told reporters.

Kasur regional police officer Muhammad Kausar Zulfiqar told CNN that the girl’s body was found on a heap of garbage only 100 meters from her home in Kasur.

This is the 12th such case in the same 2-kilometer area, the regional police office confirmed, and DNA test results match in at least five of the cases. Zainab was first reported missing on January 5 by her uncle, the regional police office added.

Outrage over Zainab’s murder quickly spread on social media in Pakistan, with many using the hashtag #JusticeForZainab.

Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Price winner, lent her voice to the push for justice.

“Heartbroken to hear about Zainab — a 7 year old child abused and brutally killed in Kasur, Pakistan,” she tweeted. “This has to stop. Gov and the concerned authorities must take action.” </s> Pakistani residents carry the body of a girl during her funeral in Kasur in Punjab Province on Wednesday, following her rape and murder (AFP photo)

LAHORE, Pakistan — Two civilians were killed when officers fired live rounds to disburse crowds that attacked a police station in Pakistan on Wednesday in a protest over the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl.

Police recovered the body of Zainab Ansari on Tuesday from a garbage dumpster in the town of Kasur in eastern Pakistan, four days after she was reported missing.

It was the twelfth incident of a girl being adducted, raped, and killed in the past year in Kasur district, police say. Residents have been furious at the authorities for what they see as a failure to investigate such cases.

The spokesman for Pakistan’s Punjab province, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, told Reuters that protesters turned violent and attacked a local police office.

“They started throwing stones at the office and some of armed protesters shot bullets at police. In order to stop them, police resorted to aerial firing,” Khan said, adding that two people were killed and one wounded as a result.

“A peaceful protest was taking place, some students threw stones and police responded by firing at the crowd,” Saleem ur Rehman, a resident who was at the protest, told Reuters. “The law and order situation here is really bad and there have been many such incidents. That is what the protest was about.”

Ansari’s parents, who were not in the country when their daughter was kidnapped, returned on Wednesday.

“I want justice! I want justice!” Zainab’s mother cried, surrounded by reporters at the international airport in the capital Islamabad.

Ansari’s case has attracted the attention of the country’s civilian and military leadership, with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif calling for immediate action.

Police in Kasur deny they have been lax in investigating child abductions in the town. Regional police officer Zulfiqar Hameed told Reuters that four kidnappers had been arrested and another killed during an arrest attempt.

“Investigations reveal that in each case a paedophile kidnaps little girls, rapes them and kills them,” he said.

The case of Ansari would soon be solved, he said: “We have got CCTV footage that shows a young man taking her along. We will catch him very soon,” he said, adding that 95 DNA samples had been taken from suspects.

A number of police officials have been transferred out of the region for failing to investigate complaints of missing children since 2015, when authorities uncovered what they called a paedophile ring linked to a prominent local family. At least two people have been convicted in the case, in which authorities say hundreds of children in the district were abused.
Protesters set a government office on fire in the Pakistani city of Kasur, in a second day of riots after the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.