A six-year-old boy who went missing two days ago has been found dead in the Old City area, police confirmed on Wednesday.

Muhammad Wali, who disappeared while playing outside his house, was found dead after a two-day search. The child's body was found in a sack near Lea Market and police have arrested a neighbour who has reportedly confessed to sexually abusing and killing the child.
The horror is almost beyond comprehension for Wali's family. The boy was the only brother among five sisters, and his rickshaw-puller father said the family had no known disputes with anyone. They searched for a lost child and found grief beyond imagining.

The body of the child was recovered stuffed in a sack near Old Haji Camp in the Lea Market area Tuesday night, police said.

“The family of the victim suspected a neighbour named Hamza and detained him before handing him over to police,” officials said.

DIG District South Asad Raza confirmed the arrest and said the suspect has confessed to the crime. Family members said the child was killed inside the suspect’s home. The body was said to have been mutilated, stuffed in a sack and thrown from a building with three floors.

The family also accused the suspect of hampering their efforts to locate him. “We were looking for the child, and he didn’t let us check his house,” a relative said, adding that the suspect also acted like he was helping in the search to avert suspicion.

The victim's mother demanded strict punishment for the accused. "We want justice. The killer should be punished the same way he treated my son," she said.

These incidents are more than isolated tragedies. They are reminders that protecting children requires more than mourning after a loss. It demands vigilance from communities, accountability from authorities and urgent action to ensure that no family has to endure such heartbreak again.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)