A six-year-old girl student, who went missing on Saturday (30 November) in Rajathan's Tonk district, was found allegedly raped and strangled to death with her own school belt on Sunday, police said.
Her body was recovered from bushes in a remote area near her village Khetadi. Liquor bottles, snacks and bloodstains were also found at the spot, police officials said.
According to police, there was a sports competition at the girl's school on Saturday and she went missing after it ended.
Her family started searching for her when she did not reach home by 3 pm but it was only her blood-stained body that was found near the village this morning.
Protesting the heinous crime, a huge crowd gathered at the spot, as police and forensic teams arrived on being informed about the body's discovery.
The body of the girl was taken elsewhere for a post-mortem as required facilities were unavailable in the village.
Superintendent of Police Adarsh Sidhu said that prime facie, it is a rape and murder case. "We are investigating the case to trace the accused. We have formed special teams," he added.
Instances of rapes have once again angered people across the country after the brutal rape and murder of 25-year-old veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, who was raped, killed and burnt alive on Hyderabad-Bengaluru National Highway 44 in the wee hours of Thursday (28 November) morning. Her charred body was found in the limits of Shadnagar police station. She was working as an assistant veterinary doctor in a hospital at Nawabpet near Kollur and residing in Shamshabad.
(With inputs from IANS)