The body of a 7-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered, was found in Karachi's Quaidabad area on Friday, police and hospital officials said, according to media reports.

The body was found on a plot of an under-construction building near Mengal School in Landhi's Muslimabad colony, Dawn reported.

A large number of locals gathered at the spot and expressed their anger over the unfortunate incident, Dawn reported.

Malir SSP Irfan Bahadur said that the girl had gone missing on Thursday and her body was found on Friday.

He added that the police were waiting for the doctors' findings before pursuing further legal action.

The minor's body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) to fulfill the legal formalities.

"The body of a minor was brought from the jurisdiction of PS Quaidabad with extensive injuries all over the body, especially the head," police surgeon Summaiya Syed said, Dawn reported.

She added that preliminary examination is highly suggestive of vaginal and anal rape, and that "swabs have been prepared for semen serology, DNA profiling, and cross-matching".

"The postmortem findings are suggestive of asphyxia (strangulation) as the cause of death, however, visceral samples have been preserved for toxicological screening."

Last month, a homeless minor girl from flood-hit Shikarpur, dwelling on a footpath near Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi's Clifton area, was kidnapped and gang-raped by a group of men, according to police and hospital officials.

The police surgeon had confirmed that the 10-year-old girl went "missing" and was brought to the JPMC by her mother in a serious condition.

She was examined by a female medico-legal officer at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH).

"The examination revealed violent vaginal rape and physical injuries," a doctor had said, Dawn reported. (KB/IANS)