The body of a five-year-old girl who had been missing for two days was found near her family’s home in Baidoa, South West State, police and relatives said.
The girl, identified as Ikhlaas Ibrahim Amin, was found late Friday afternoon at a maternal and child health centre next to her family’s home in the Xaqsoor neighbourhood.
Police said three people, including two women and a young man, had been detained in connection with the case. No formal charges have been announced.
Ikhlaas was reported missing by her family at around 2 p.m. Wednesday. Security forces had been searching for her in Baidoa and surrounding areas for two days.
Ibrahim Mohamed Amin, a relative of the girl, said the family saw injuries on her body that appeared to indicate she had been beaten and strangled with a rope. Authorities have not yet released the results of a medical examination.
Ikhlaas’s body was taken to Bay Regional Hospital, where doctors are examining it to determine the cause of death.
South West leader Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe has reportedly ordered police and intelligence agencies to urgently investigate the case and take action against anyone found responsible.
An official from the South West presidency said Aden Madobe wanted the investigation completed quickly so the family could obtain justice.
A police official said one of the people detained was a security guard at the building where the girl’s body was found.
“The investigation is ongoing, and they are attempting to determine exactly what happened to the girl and who is responsible for her death,” police said.
Ikhlaas’s family was among displaced families relocated in July to new housing built in Baidoa’s Xaqsoor area.
Her family is demanding a full explanation of the cause of death, the identification of those responsible and the prosecution of anyone involved.
