A 10-year-old girl, who went missing from a slum in Madhya Pradesh’s capital city of Bhopal on Saturday night, was raped before she was strangled to death as per the post-mortem report, said police.

The police had earlier revealed that the victim’s body was found in a sewer on Sunday morning, hardly 20-meters away from her home.

Seven police personnel, including an assistant sub-inspector, were suspended on charges of dereliction of duty following a complaint by the girl’s family alleging indifference and inaction by the local cops when the girl was first reported missing.

The police have identified the accused as Vishnu, a resident of Khandwa district who worked as a labourer and lived as a tenant in the neighbourhood. The girl’s father had helped the accused find a house to rent, the police said.

“Vishnu is absconding after the incident and his mobile location was traced near Ujjain and later near Khandwa on Sunday. As many as 20 teams of police personnel have been sent to different locations to track down the accused,” said Bhopal’s deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Irshad Wali.

The police have also announced a reward of Rs 20,000 to anybody who helps it nab the accused, the DIG said.

Heavy police force has been deployed in the area to control any possible flare-up as locals are agitated over the incident and alleged police inaction.

Residents, including the victim’s relatives, earlier staged a demonstration outside Kamla Nagar police station, alleging police laxity.

“I dialed 100 around 8 pm on Saturday night, but police did not file a report. Some policemen finally visited my house around 11 pm on Saturday only after intervention of the local corporator....then a report was lodged”, said the girl’s uncle, “after they came at night the police personnel demanded chairs to sit and water to drink. They asked the family members to go to bed claiming that the girl would come home on her own or she might have eloped with somebody,” he added.

PC Sharma, the minister for public relations, said a high-level inquiry would be conducted into the matter.

Newly elected member of Parliament from Bhopal, Pragya Thakur, also visited the house of the victim on Sunday.

First Published: Jun 09, 2019 11:38 IST