Toddler run over and killed by her uncle

A FAMILY tragedy unfolded in Paphos yesterday, after a 2 ½ year-old girl was run over and killed by a car, believed to be driven by her uncle.

Police are looking for a man in his thirties in a fatal hit-and-run case that has shocked the community of Stavrokonou village.

The suspect, a Turkish Cypriot and resident in the south, has disappeared.

Described only as between 32 and 35 years old, the suspect fled the scene after his car struck and killed the girl, who happened to be his niece. He was driving a pick-up truck.

The accident took place close to the girl’s family house sometime around 2pm, police said. The girl was playing outdoors at the time.

Under circumstances that are being investigated, the man hit the little girl with his pick-up truck and apparently fled the scene.

The victim, Aise Suleyman, was rushed to Paphos hospital where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival.

Police have issued an all-points bulletin and have alerted the checkpoints in the event the suspect attempts to flee north.

Media reports said that bereaved relatives and friends of the girl gathered at the hospital. Some of them were calling for revenge, the reports said.

CyBC also reported that, shortly after the girl was taken to hospital, the suspect told his father-in-law that he was going to the hospital himself, but vanished after that.

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