Authorities seal Sargodha shop linked to Muntaha rape, murder case

SARGODHA: Authorities have sealed a grocery shop linked to the alleged rape and murder of seven-year-old Muntaha Zahra after repeated attacks by residents left the premises badly damaged.

The child was allegedly raped and killed inside the building earlier this week. Police arrested four suspects in the case, and Senior Civil Judge Chaudhry Imran Ali later remanded them into police custody for six days for physical interrogation. According to investigators, preliminary findings suggest that a store employee allegedly tried to sexually assault the girl before killing her when she resisted and raised an alarm.

The investigation took another turn on Wednesday when the Crime Control Department (CCD) said the prime suspect had been killed in an encounter in Sargodha. The case had earlier been transferred to the CCD after police detained the main suspect along with three alleged accomplices.

Shop sealed after repeated vandalism

The shop remained the centre of public anger for several days, with protesters gathering outside the premises more than once. People pelted the building with stones and also tried to set it on fire. The attacks smashed the windows and severely damaged the main shutter.

In response, the administration walled up the entrance with bricks and sealed the property. Police had already removed items from inside the shop as a precaution. Barbed wire was also placed outside, and two police officers were deployed there during the day. Residents, however, said the officers leave after their shifts at night, after which some people return to damage the property.

Resident Muhammad Ali said the alleged crime against Muntaha was unbearable. He said the city was in mourning and demanded the strictest legal punishment for those responsible.

Another resident, Ayesha Bibi, said the grief of Muntaha’s parents had become the grief of the whole city and called for those accused in the case to be brought to justice quickly so the family could receive justice and public anxiety could ease.

Police response and case background

Sargodha District Police Officer Muhammad Sohaib Ashraf said the victim’s family had no role in the attacks on the shop. He said neither the family had encouraged anyone to target the premises nor was any relative involved in the vandalism. He added that police were examining all aspects of the case and would also take legal action against those who repeatedly attacked the property.

Attributing the remarks to the DPO, the report quoted him as saying: "No one can be allowed to take the law into their own hands."

Muntaha, a resident of block 8, had left home to buy sugar from a nearby grocery store and later went missing, prompting her family to approach police. After the complaint was registered, police launched a search operation and reviewed CCTV footage from the area. The footage showed the child entering the grocery store but not coming out.

Acting on that lead, law enforcement personnel searched the building and found her body. Police collected evidence from the scene and the City Police Station registered a case on the complaint of the victim’s father, naming four people, including the prime suspect. According to the first information report, the main suspect had earlier threatened Muntaha’s father during a dispute and warned him of consequences he would remember for life. Police were investigating whether those threats were connected to the crime.