ISLAMABAD — A three-year-old girl’s disappearance in Islamabad has taken horrifying turn, with police arresting her brother-in-law after CCTV footage allegedly showed him walking away with the child shortly before she vanished.
The body of little Sakina was later recovered from a rainwater drain near Jhangi Syedan on the suspect’s identification, police said, as investigators expanded the case from a missing-child report to an alleged rape and murder investigation.
According to Islamabad Police, the suspect, identified as Kashif, is the husband of Sakina’s elder sister. The two were married around one and a half years ago. Police got five-day physical remand of the suspect and launched a detailed investigation.
تھانہ نون کی حدود میں تین سالہ بچی، (اپنی ہی سالی) کو زیادتی کے بعد قتل کرنے والا سفاک ملزم دو گھنٹے سے بھی کم وقت میں گرفتار۔
تین سالہ بچی کے لاپتہ ہونے کی اطلاع پر تھانہ نون پولیس نے فوری مقدمہ درج کر کے تفتیش شروع کر دی،
ڈی آئی جی اسلام آباد علی وسیم نے ایس پی انڈسٹریل زون…
— Islamabad Police (@ICT_Police) September 23, 2026
The case began on Tuesday, September 22, when Sakina was reportedly playing outside her home in Jhangi Syedan at around 2pm. Her mother later went outside to check on her and discovered that the child had disappeared.
The family initially searched the surrounding area themselves before approaching police. The mother subsequently registered a missing-person case, fearing that her daughter had been abducted. Police said the disappearance was reported to them at around 11pm.
Officials said that seven police teams were formed to locate the girl. Investigators searched deserted areas around the settlement, working on the assumption that a three-year-old child could not have travelled very far. Police also believed Sakina may have left with someone familiar to her.
The investigation was complicated by the conditions in the area. Jhangi Syedan is described by police as a disadvantaged settlement where many residents work as labourers or as domestic workers. Sakina’s mother also worked in people’s homes. Because most houses in the area did not have CCTV cameras, investigators initially had limited footage to work with.
A breakthrough reportedly came from CCTV footage recorded outside the house of a computer science professor in nearby Shams Town. The footage was recorded at approximately 2:15pm, shortly after Sakina was last seen playing outside. The footage allegedly showed the three-year-old walking through a street while holding the hand of a young man believed to be around 23 or 24 years old.
Police began identifying the people visible in the footage. The man accompanying Sakina was identified as Kashif, her brother-in-law.
What investigators found particularly significant was that the suspect had reportedly joined police teams while they were searching deserted areas for Sakina. Police said they initially did not suspect him. However, after investigators obtained the CCTV footage and questioned him, they said he failed to provide satisfactory answers.
Police also noticed an apparent change in his clothing. CCTV footage allegedly showed him wearing trousers and a shirt, while he was wearing a shalwar kameez during the search for the missing girl.
Police said the suspect subsequently led investigators to the location where the child’s body had been left. The girl’s body was recovered from a rainwater drain near Jhangi Syedan, police said. According to investigators, the child was found without clothing.
Police further claimed that the suspect told investigators he killed Sakina because he feared she would return home and tell her family about the alleged assault. SP Industrial Area said investigators recovered the trousers and shirt the suspect allegedly wore at the time of the incident on his identification.
Police alleged that the suspect had taken a drawstring from an old shalwar lying near the scene and used it to strangle the child. Sakina underwent a post-mortem examination before her body was handed over to her family. Police said DNA and other samples from the suspect and the deceased child have been sent for forensic analysis.
