Missing boy found dead in Karachi, neighbour held after rape and murder confession

KARACHI: A six-year-old boy who had been missing for two days was found dead in Karachi’s Old City area, police said on Wednesday, while a neighbour was taken into custody in the case.

Police identified the child as Muhammad Wali, son of Abid Ali. According to officials, he went missing from outside his home on Monday. After relatives and local residents failed to find him despite repeated efforts, a kidnapping case was registered at Napier police station.

Officials said the child’s body was discovered on Tuesday night in a sack near Old Haji Camp in the Lea Market area. DIG South Asad Raza confirmed the arrest of the suspect, identified as Hamza, and said the accused had confessed to the crime.

Investigators said the suspect told police he bore a personal grudge against the child’s father. They added that he had admitted to sexually assaulting the boy before killing him. Family members said they had become suspicious of the neighbour, detained him and later handed him over to police.

Relatives alleged that the child was killed inside the suspect’s house. They further claimed the body had been mutilated, placed in a sack and thrown from a three-storey building. The family also accused the suspect of hindering their search for the child while pretending to help.

A relative said the family had tried to search the suspect’s home during their efforts to locate the boy.

The same relative added that the suspect had joined the search in an apparent attempt to avoid suspicion.

The child’s mother called for severe punishment for the accused.

Muhammad Wali was the only brother among five sisters. His father, who works as a rickshaw driver, said the family had no known dispute with anyone.

Child dies after falling into old well

In a separate incident in the Old City area on Wednesday, six-year-old Khalid died after falling into an old 200-foot-deep well near Ghass Mandi, according to Rescue 1122 officials.

Rescue officials said the child accidentally fell into the dry well while playing. A water rescue team launched an operation and, despite difficulties caused by the depth and condition of the well, managed to pull him out alive in critical condition.

He was shifted to Civil Hospital for treatment but later died of his injuries. After legal formalities were completed, police handed over the body to his family.

The deputy commissioner of South said the well was part of an old structure and that the site had previously housed a washerman’s shop where water used to be stored. Separately, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation said the incident was unrelated to its sewerage network, adding through a spokesperson that the corporation’s manholes and sewer lines were located away from the site and that the well did not fall within its operational jurisdiction.