Hazaras protest against girl’s brutal murder

QUETTA: Hundreds of people from the Hazara community staged a protest Saturday against the murder of a six-year-old girl, found dumped near a garbage heap after apparently being subjected to rape attempts.

Sahar Batool, who was from the minority Hazara group, was found dead last week in Quetta, capital of the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan.

Hazaras are mostly Shiite Muslims and have borne the brunt of the wave of sectarian violence that has swept Baluchistan in recent years, mostly perpetrated by Sunni Muslim extremist groups.

Around 500 protesters gathered outside the office of Baluchistan´s police chief and staged a sit-in for around an hour, demanding the immediate arrests of the girl´s killers.

The protesters, including women and children, shouted slogans denouncing the killing of Hazaras in suicide and bomb attacks as well as individual assaults.

The little girl´s body bore bruises and she had been strangled with a rope, according to police officials and her family.