Murder case lodged after girl dies at Lahore tuition centre

LAHORE: Police have registered a murder case against unidentified suspects after a girl was found dead inside the washroom of a tuition centre in Lahore’s Ichhra area, according to the initial investigation shared by officials.

Police said the girl, identified as Naeema, reached the tuition centre with her two sisters at about 4:15pm on Thursday. The classes were being held in a two-storey house run by two sisters. During the session, Naeema went downstairs to use the washroom on the ground floor but did not return.

Investigators said one of her sisters went to check on her after about 15 minutes and found the washroom door locked. The door was then forced open and Naeema was found unconscious. She was taken to Services Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. Hospital staff observed a ligature mark around her neck, police said.

According to investigators, the washroom measured 2x3 feet, and a nylon rope used for drying clothes had one end tied near the door lock. Police also said CCTV footage from a shop opposite the house did not show any unknown person entering or leaving the premises. Abdul Rauf, the 60-year-old father of the two women who run the tuition centre and the only man present there, was questioned, but police said no evidence had linked him to the incident so far. The case was registered on the complaint of the girl’s father.