The police investigation has found that a seven-year-old girl who died in Karachi’s Sakhi Hassan area on Thursday was shot by a security guard at a hotel who tried to ward muggers off.

They claimed to have solved the case based on the evidence and experts’ opinions. The incident happened in Sakhi Hassan, Bufferzone.

A team comprising Gulberg SP, Taimuria SHO, and Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan SHO has arrested the suspect. He was named Ali Raza, 43.

Raza told the police that he works at a hotel that comes under the jurisdiction of Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan and he opened fire on two unidentified men on account of the alleged robbery.

The alleged robbers managed to flee during the firing while one of the bullets hit the head of a minor who was sitting in the back seat of her family’s car. The vehicle was passing in front of the Taimooria Police Station.

Initial reports said that street robbers had already deprived people of mobile phones in nearby shops.

The police have taken a rifle and shell of the fired bullet into possession from the suspect. They also recovered the bullet and sent all these pieces for evidence for forensic tests.

They have taken other pieces of evidence, CCTV footage, and recorded statements of witnesses.

The cause of death was found to be a bullet wound to the head, according to the post-mortem examination. The police have also obtained a forensic report which showed that the bullet that hit the girl was fired from a rifle recovered by the guard.

The victim’s father had refused to register a complaint while the police registered the case under Section 319 (punishment for qatl-i-khata) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Taimooriya Police Station.

The child’s body was moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medicolegal examination.

As per initial reports, the girl’s father said that he heard the sound of glass breaking and turned around to see that his daughter had been hit by a bullet. He added that he saw two men running away when he looked around.

She was rushed to a private hospital where she succumbed to her wounds.