Rape, murder of 7-year-old girl spark outrage in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The rape and killing of a seven-year-old girl has sparked nationwide outrage in Pakistan, local media reported on Wednesday.

Zainab, who lived in the city of Kasur in Punjab province, was kidnapped by a mysterious man on Jan. 5 on her way to a tuition center, CCTV footage showed. Her body was discovered in a dumpster about a mile from her home four days later.

Her parents had traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform their pilgrimage and the child was living with her aunts.

The initial autopsy report indicated that the girl was strangled to death after being raped multiple times, according to a report by daily newspaper Pakistan Today.

Police say DNA recovered from Zainab's body suggests the perpetrator might be a family acquaintance.

Many have voiced their anger on social media at this crime, which, as Pakistan Today terms it, has become a "norm" in Kasur. In the past two years, there have been at least 12 similar child murders in the city.

Riot erupted on Wednesday as protesters took to the street in various parts of Kasur to denounce the alleged inaction by the authorities in child abduction and murders. At least two were fatally shot and several others were injured, according to the reports.

Zainab's father said the girl won't be buried till her killer is found and brought to justice. Enditem