ISLAMABAD: The Punjab police negated reports of the eight-year-old girl in Chichawatni being raped before being burnt alive, adding that the minor was killed in an accident.
The revelations were made in the police report which was submitted to the Supreme Court on Saturday.
The report rejected the allegations that the minor was raped before being set on fire. The evidence collected by the police and the DNA report proved that the minor was not sexually assaulted.
"The postmortem report/DNA report, circumstantial evidence and statement of several people negate the allegation of commission of rape," the report states.
According to the report, the girl found Rs10 lying around in her house after which she went to a nearby shop owned by Imdad Hussain from where bought a packet of firecrackers and three toffees.
About five to seven minutes later, the girl was burnt alive near her house.
The report states that the police have recorded the statement of 19 people in the case, adding that police are awaiting the chemical report of the girl’s clothes and shoes.
Earlier, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took the suo motu notice of an eight-year-old girl who succumbed to her wounds after being burnt alive and allegedly raped in Chichawatni.
Chief Justice Nisar took notice of the incident after it was reported in media, said a statement by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The CJP has summoned a report over the matter in the next 24 hours.
Media reports stated that Noor Fatima was burnt alive after being reportedly raped, the statement said, adding that the victim’s family and neighbours had appealed to the top judge to take notice of the case.
On April 8, the minor had left her house to buy sweets from a nearby shop. After she failed to return home, her parents and neighbours started looking for her. Three hours later, the girl was found allegedly raped and burnt by unidentified men in Ward 17 of Mohammadabad area of Chichawatni.
The girl succumbed to her wounds and passed away at Lahore's Jinnah Hospital.