UP: ‘Missing’ Dalit girl, 18, found dead, body partially eaten by wild animals

BAREILLY: The partially eaten body — possibly by wild animals — of an 18-year-old Class XII girl who had gone missing on Monday when out to fill online scholarship form was found near a pond in Kheri’s Neemgaon area on Tuesday. She was strangled, said police, who recovered her handbag, a mobile phone and a blood-stained knife from the spot.
The autopsy — conducted by a panel of three doctors on Tuesday — found bruises near her private parts and a slide was prepared to confirm whether the victim was assaulted sexually, said police.
District magistrate Shailendra Singh and senior superintendent of police Satyendra Kumar, meanwhile, visited her village and met the bereaved family.
The girl had gone to Behjam town to fill an online scholarship form on Monday. When she didn’t return home by the afternoon, her family members tried to establish contact with her over the mobile phone, but all their calls went unanswered. The family, then, approached police who launched a search operation based on her mobile phone location only to find her dead the next morning.
Ruling out enmity with anyone, the girl’s aunt said, “It appears my niece was raped and then killed by the accused. We have requested police to arrest the killer and take strict action against him.”
Neemgaon SHO Gajendra Singh told TOI, “An FIR was registered under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and appropriate sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against unidentified accused. The section of rape will be added to the FIR after the autopsy report confirms it. It appears the accused was known to the victim. Based on the girl's call details, we have identified a few suspects. We are hopeful that the case will be resolved within 24 hours.”
“A circle officer will conduct the investigation and he will ensure that the accused is arrested soon,” said the SSP.