8-yr-old girl found murdered day after she goes missing, cops suspect rape

Police suspect the minor was allegedly gang-raped and murdered after being abducted by unidentified miscreants. Preliminary investigations revealed that the girl returned home from school on Monday evening and had just stepped out to relieve herself around 5 pm. After informing her father, who was engaged in painting a house, the girl stepped out.

Since she failed to return even after many hours had passed, her relatives took out a search party for her. They approached the police after they failed to locate the girl and the police filed a ‘child missing’ case based on her father’s complaint. However, her body was found near a bush around 10 am on Tuesday. The police team identified the girl with the ID card they found in a thorny bush near the site.

Angry relatives immediately demanded that the police arrest the culprits at the earliest. Four suspects, including two Assamese people, were picked up for interrogation in connection with the incident, sources said.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Madurai Range, Annie Vijaya, when contacted, said she was probably raped before being murdered. Six special teams have been formed to nab the accused. Sivakasi Deputy Superintendent of Police Prabhakaran, when contacted, said the police could confirm rape only after they got the post-mortem report. Sivakasi Sub Collector C Dinesh Kumar said the post-mortem examination was done on Tuesday evening and the body was handed over to her relatives.