Three Arrested After 17-Year-Old Eshal Fatima Is Found Unconscious and Dies in Jhang

Overview

• Eshal Fatima, a 17-year-old first-year college student, left home on June 4 and was reported missing before being brought to a private hospital in Jhang unconscious on June 7 and later dying at the District Headquarters Hospital.
• Her father filed an FIR alleging abduction and the case was initially registered under kidnapping with intent to rape and administering harmful substances (Section 337-J); police added murder charges after her death.
• Investigators recovered private-hospital CCTV that police say shows a car arriving on June 7 and men carrying an unconscious girl inside, and authorities have arrested three suspects and seized the vehicle.
• A preliminary post-mortem found no signs of sexual assault or physical violence and noted that Eshal was a diabetic who used insulin, but hospital doctors observed possible toxic exposure and sent biological samples to the PFSA in Lahore for toxicology.
• The case has provoked widespread public anger and celebrity calls for swift, transparent justice, and the PFSA results and suspect interrogations will be decisive for determining cause of death and potential charges.