The police surgeon, Dr Summaiya Syed, confirmed the gang rape of the girl. Adding that the eight-year-old girl is in critical condition.

She added that the girl had come to the hospital yesterday with her mother and was undergoing medical treatment at National Institute of Child Health (NICH).

The mother said that she hailed from the Shikarpur district was among flood survivors who migrated to Karachi.

She said she moved to the megacity with her six children to earn a living.

They were living on the footpath in the Shah Rasool Colony and that the mother had been feeding her children from a langar (soup kitchen).

According to the FIR, the mother told the police that her daughter was playing outside Dolmen Mall Clifton on Sunday afternoon. When the child came back to her mother at around 2pm, there were blood stains on her clothes.

“On being asked, the girl told her mother that two people traveling in a car abducted her and subjected her to criminal assault at an unknown place,” the FIR added.

According to a spokesperson, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of the rape and has sought a detailed report of the incident from Commissioner Karachi.

Sind Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah directed the police to immediately arrest the accused involved in the incident.

He said he learnt about the rape from TV reports and was deeply saddened.

Shah asserted that such incidents were “intolerable”.