The murderers of a young Pakistani Christian girl may never be brought to justice as authorities end their search for her killers.

Nisha Javid, nine, was walking near her home in the Punjab on Maundy Thursday this year when she was kidnapped, gang raped, beaten to death and left in a canal.

Christians in the area believe the attack was meant to intimidate them, coming as it did the day before Good Friday.

Now police have stopped looking for the perpetrators of the crime, reports Voice of the Martyrs Canada.

Christians in Pakistan often struggle to receive justice in the legal system as their testimonies are not regarded as valid compared to Muslim testimonies. A Christian man’s testimony is worth half of that of a Muslim man, while a Christian woman’s testimony is worth a quarter of a Muslim man's, meaning that crimes committed by Muslims against Christians often go unpunished, especially in cases of rape.

Recently another child, a boy aged 11, was killed by anti-Christian groups near his church. According to Voice of the Martyrs Canada many such attacks are not planned but happen when Christians get in the way of Muslims.