Police still clueless about Surat victim’s family, accused

Despite the Gujarat Police leaving no stone unturned to trace the identity of 11-year-old girl, who was reportedly murdered after brutal sexual assault for almost a week, cops are clueless about the girl’s family as well as the accused.

Till Sunday evening Gujarat police have seen 8,000 pictures to missing girls in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. According to Surat police commissioner Satish Sharma, now the police would widen investigation in other States also.

Sharma said that looking to the feature of the victim, it seems that she might be from eithter Bengal or Odisha and hence cops are focusing on these two states’ missing children.

The police have also displayed 1200 posters across Surat city. Already the police have announced Rs 20,000 reward for anyone coming forward to give information about the girl. Now on Sunday a local builder has also announced Rs 5 lakh reward for the same.

Body of minor girl was found from Pandesara locality in Surat on April 6 with more than 80 injury marks. Police suspect that she had been held captive, tortured and raped over a period of time. Her body was spotted lying in bushes in a cricket ground in the locality and it came in notice of some pedestrians.

According to Padesara police inspector KB Jhala the girl’s picture had been circulated on social media platforms to avail her identity.  According to the doctor who conducted post-mortem said that she might be tortured over the period of one week. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has been roped in the investigation.

Police have registered a case under sections 302 (Punishment for murder), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 376 (Punishment for rape), and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) against unidentified.