The crime scene/File photo

MARDAN: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police on Thursday confirmed it has received the forensic report from the Punjab Forensics Laboratory in the rape and murder case of four-year-old Aasma.

In the latest development in the ongoing investigation against the brutal incident, Mardan Regional Police Officer DIG Awal Khan said the police has received the DNA test report on the case and has sent samples of 243 suspects to the laboratory for cross matching.

Aasma was reported missing from the Gujjar Garhi area in Mardan on January 13, and was recovered dead the next day from the nearby sugarcane fields. The murderer remains at large.

In a suo motu hearing of the case on Tuesday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar admonished the KP police for its failure to arrest the culprit and said it was reflective of the force's incompetence.

The chief justice also inquired what the KP police had done so far in the case, to which the DIG failed to give a satisfying reply.

SC admonishes KP police for 'incompetence' in Aasma rape-murder case

The Supreme Court was hearing its suo motu case in the rape and murder of four-year-old girl, who was found in sugarcane fields two weeks back

The court then adjourned the hearing until February 6.

Dr Ashraf Tahir ? the Director-General of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency ? earlier said the DNA tests conducted on the samples obtained from the deceased?s body and the crime scene proved that the minor girl was sexually assaulted before her death.

One person?s DNA was found on Aasma?s body confirming the rape, the official added, noting that the next stage in the investigation would be to match the DNA samples taken from over 200 people in the case to track down the suspect.