Kulsoom case: Karachi police send DNA samples of 13 individuals to lab

KARACHI: Police have collected DNA samples from 13 suspects in the rape and murder of three-year-old Kulsoom in Quaidabad. Investigators stated that the child’s relatives and residents are among those being tested, ARY News reported, citing the police officials.

All 13 samples were sent to the DNA laboratory for testing on Friday, police officials confirmed.

Authorities further informed that they had also detained five suspects, two of whom were later released. The individuals taken into custody are also residents of the same area.

The investigation will proceed once the DNA test results are received, police said, adding that they remain in close contact with the doctors and hospital administration regarding the reports.

Post-mortem found human hair and multiple DNA traces on the child’s clothes, with marks of resistance. Karchi police now believe more than one person could be involved.

Sindh IGP Javed Alam Odho ordered a high-level investigation committee. DIG East will lead it.

The team includes SSP SIU, SSP Malir, SSP Special Branch Intelligence, SP Investigation Malir, the local DSP, SIO and the case IO. Officers from key law enforcement agencies are also on board.

Odho told the committee to review every angle and update him daily. He said those behind the “heinous crime” against an innocent child deserve no leniency.

“Use all available resources to arrest the culprits quickly and ensure the strictest punishment under law,” he directed officers. “Delivering justice to the family is Sindh Police’s top priority.”

Police have detained several suspects for questioning. Medical exams will be done for all of them, officials said. The investigation continues.

Earlier, police found the body of a three-year-old girl packed inside a sack with signs of torture hours after she went missing.

According to rescue sources, the child’s body was immediately shifted to the hospital for legal formalities and a post-mortem examination.

Karachi police said the girl, identified as Kulsoom, had gone missing around noon after leaving her home to play outside.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), registered on the complaint of the victim’s father, Qasim, at Quaidabad Police Station, he had left for work at around 10 a.m. At approximately 4:30 p.m., his wife informed him by phone that their daughter had been missing since around noon.

The complainant stated that he returned home immediately and searched extensively for the child but was unable to locate her. Later, at around 7:45 p.m., he returned to the neighborhood and found a crowd gathered near his residence.

According to the FIR, neighbors informed him that his daughter’s body had been found inside a flour sack.

The complaint further stated that unidentified persons had killed the child and dumped her body near the gate of the street.

Residents transported the girl to a hospital, where doctors informed the family that she had died several hours earlier, according to the FIR.