Pakistan police say 5-year-old girl was abducted, murdered

Protesters hold posters featuring Zainab Ansari, in Lahore, Pakistan, on Jan. 13, 2018. (K.M. Chaudary / AP)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Police in Pakistan say a five-year-old girl was abducted and strangled to death, after finding her body in a field near the northwestern city of Mardan.

Provincial police chief Salahuddin Mahsud says Wednesday that the autopsy "indicates sexual abuse." The body was found late Sunday.

The killing resembles that of Zainab Ansari, an eight-year-old girl who was kidnapped, raped and killed in the city of Kasur, near the Indian border, earlier this month. That killing set off protests and deadly clashes between police and residents, who accused authorities of failing to act quickly enough.

Police say they suspect a serial killer may have been behind Ansari's murder. The killings in Mardan and Kasur, which are in different provinces, are not believed to be linked.