Kasur police say they have arrested a suspect in connection with the alleged rape and murder of an 11-year-old boy in the district, after an investigation into the child's death earlier this month.

The victim, identified as Faizan, was found dead on 2 November in Mouza Hussain Khanwala, according to the district police officer. Initial inquiries indicated that the child had been murdered, and police began questioning a local resident identified as Mubashir.

Police say the suspect allegedly told investigators that he had entered the victim's house intending to commit theft. According to the account provided by police, the child saw him, and the suspect allegedly killed the boy to prevent him from raising the alarm.

Investigators further stated that the suspect allegedly strangled the child with a rope and later left his body in a nearby agricultural field. Police also alleged that the suspect admitted to sexually assaulting the victim after killing him.

The suspect has been taken into custody as police continue investigating the case. The alleged confession and the details of the incident have been attributed to the police, and the case remains subject to the legal process. No finding of guilt has been made, and the suspect is presumed innocent unless and until a court convicts him.

The Crime Control Department had said on 4 November that it had solved the blind murder of the 11-year-old boy, whose body was found near his home in the fields of Hussain Khanwala village. A case had been registered against an unidentified suspect after the body was discovered, and investigators then worked from the circumstances of the scene to identify a suspect.

The case has brought renewed attention to child safety in Kasur, a district that has seen earlier high-profile cases of child abuse and murder. In 2019, four boys from the Chunian area were kidnapped and murdered, and police took DNA samples from more than 1,700 people before arresting a suspect. The 2015 child abuse scandal in the same district, in which hundreds of video clips of abused children were discovered, led to a judicial inquiry and national outrage.

Child protection campaigners have repeatedly called for faster investigations and stronger safeguards for children in the district, arguing that cases must be pursued through the courts so that those responsible are held to account and other children are protected.

Police say further legal proceedings will follow as the investigation moves forward, and that the findings of the post-mortem examination will form part of the case.