Child dies in crossfire in Karachi

Maryam, a seven-year-old girl, got shot on Friday while she was on her way to school near Nagan Chowrangi.

The girl was seated in a car being driven by her father when a security guard and robbers exchanged fire.

Dawn spoke with Taimuria police officer Ghulam Murtaza who said that the father recalled that the two were near a shopping centre around 7:12am when the car slowed down at a speed breaker. At that point he heard Maryam cry out “Baba”. She was bleeding so he rushed her to a hospital nearby and then to Ziauddin Hospital where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival.

According to Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed, the family took Maryam’s body home without a post-mortem examination but then the police brought it back to conduct a post-mortem which concluded that she was shot in the head.

The police reported that the shootout was between a security guard and robbers.

Maryam’s father did not lodge an FIR, however, police have registered a case against the detained guard on behalf of the state under Section 319 (manslaughter) of the Pakistan Penal Code and initiated an investigation.

Security guard Ali Raza was then taken into custody.

Initially, two spent bullet casings fired from separate pistols had been recovered from the spot, and later, as per a police spokesperson, a forensic report confirmed that the bullet that killed Maryam was fired by the security guard.

The guard, employed at a restaurant, opened fire on two robbers as they escaped the scene, when one of the bullets hit Maryam on the opposite side of the road near Haroon Shopping Centre within the jurisdiction of the Taimuria police station.

A four-member committee has been formed which will be led by Gulberg SP to probe into the case.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori has also taken notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the Additional IGP of Karachi.