Police are yet to make any progress in the murder of teenager Shahid Rahimoon, whose body was found in an empty house in Karachi’s upscale Defence House Authority area last week, in spite of social media pressure that resulted in #JusticeForShahidRahimoon trending on Pakistan Twitter.

The body of 18-year-old Shahid, a resident of a small village in Tharparkar, was recovered from a house on Khayaban-e-Bukhari in the early hours of Wednesday, December 8. Photos from the crime scene showed his hands and feet had been tied and the body also bore fingerprint marks around the neck.

While a case has been registered with the Gizri Police station unders sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), the family members say little is being done to arrest the culprit.

Allah Dino, who is the victim’s uncles and the complainant in the case, says the police is trying to portray the case as a robbery gone wrong.

“Apparently, one of the guards told the police that they saw four men entering the house upon which he fired and they ran,” he told Aaj News.

However, no one in the area heard any shots at night while the CCTV footage from that time has been mysteriously deleted, he added.

Dino also pointed out that Shahid worked at the residence of one Shaikh Abdul Wajid, where he was responsible for cooking food for the household staff.

Wajid and his son have been named in the FIR.

His dead body, however, was recovered from the house opposite his employer's. The house owners are believed to be out of the country, with Wajid’s family responsible for managing it in their absence.

Dino said that other guards and domestic staff from Wajid’s house informed him that Shahid had been asked to sleep at that house for the last few days as the guard deployed there was on holiday.

However, it couldn’t be independently confirmed if Shahid had ever gone to that house or slept there before he was murdered.

“Shahid had been working there for around two months. Why would they not ask any of the other guards or domestic staff, who have been with the family for years, to go to the house?” said the victim’s uncle Allah Dino.

According to the family, Shahid was a Hafiz-e-Quran – someone who can recite the Holy Quran from memory – who came to Karachi a little over two months ago for work. He had gotten a job at the house of Wajid with the help of a relative who worked there.

“Shahid would lead prayers in the morning. The guards said they found out about his murder when they went to check up on him in the morning after he didn’t show up,” he said.

He went on to say this was surprising because no one checked the house or inquired about Shahid’s well-being during the night when the alleged robbers tried to break in into the house. “There were no doors or windows broken from the house,” he said.

Allah Dino added that Shahid had, on several occasions, confided to his family that he was being mistreated at the house, and made to do other servants'chores as well. He also claimed that Shahid had been berated on more than one occasion for praying excessively.

Shahid had also told them about an instance when the owner – while drunk – beat him up with the help of another servant, Dino added.

He claimed the police had initially refused to file the complaint. However, after protesting outside the police station, they relented and agreed to include the name of the owner and his son Shaikh Ali Wajid, in it.

“We are poor people and we want justice. He was the eldest son of an old man who had come to Karachi in order to earn enough to help his family back in the village. He is gone now,” Dino said.

Special Investigation Officer (SIO) Aamir Adnan said that the lack of development in the case was due to the absence of the complainant, who had gone to his ancestral village for the last rites.

He said the house where the body was found was owned by one Captain Saeed, but refused to discuss further details citing that investigation was underway. He didn’t confirm whether they had recovered the CCTV footage or if it had been mysteriously deleted and was also mum about whether anyone, including the two individuals named in the police report, had been questioned.

While there has been minimal progress in the investigation, social media has rallied behind the case, urging authorities to take action.

Actor Mishi Khan said that the frequency of such cases makes her feel like she is living amidst barbarians.

Many others condemned the brutal murder while demanding justice for the victim.