Seven-year-old Zainab was walking to her aunt's house for a Quran lesson when she disappeared.

LAHORE: A special bench of the Supreme Court will resume hearing the suo motu case of the brutal rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab at its Lahore Registry today.

At the last hearing on Tuesday, the two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, had expressed its displeasure over the lack of progress by the Punjab government and police.

Zainab was kidnapped on January 4 from near her aunt?s house in Kasur. Her body was discovered five days later from a garbage pile. The post-mortem report revealed that Zainab had been raped and murdered.

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The joint investigation team (JIT) probing the incident will appear before the court today, as will the head of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency.

The chief justice will also hear the suo motu notices of Lahore's pollution, hospital waste management, high fees in medical colleges and substandard law colleges.

During the proceedings at the last hearing, Punjab additional inspector general (AIG) and advocate general (AG) appeared before the court.

Addressing the officials, the chief justice remarked that no significant progress in the case was visible so far, adding that "the entire nation is aggrieved by the incident". 

"If the issue isn?t solved then it?ll be a failure of the government and police," the chief justice observed, adding that the same mistakes are made in every case after which suspects are exonerated due to shoddy investigations.

The AIG informed the court that eight similar cases emerged in Kasur since the last year and a half.

Chief Justice Nisar observed that millions of rupees are spent on safe city projects, adding that there should be a firm belief that the killer will be caught as the court doesn't "want the suspect caught and killed in an encounter".

New CCTV video shows suspect doing rounds near Zainab's house

The suspect's face appears to be more clear in latest footage that emerged late Friday

During the hearing, the chief justice also remarked that the accused in the Zainab case is a serial killer.

Chief Justice Nisar had taken a suo motu notice of the case on January 10. 

Another CCTV footage appears 

A yet another closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the suspect in the Zainab rape-murder case surfaced Friday night, wherein he can be seen doing the rounds near the victim's residence in Kasur.

Multiple CCTV videos of the girl being led away by the suspected man have emerged so far. However, in the latest footage, the suspect's face is clearer as opposed to the previous clips.

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In the new footage, the suspect ? who remains at large ? is seen walking down the street where the victim's house is located at 7:12pm on January 4.

Police say they have been continuously conducting operations and arresting on a daily basis suspected individuals, who, once questioned and cleared, are let go.

Authorities, however, said they await the DNA report of four under-custody suspects.