10-Year-Old Girl Found Dead In Jharkhand, Cops Suspect Gang-Rape

A 10-year-old girl was murdered after a suspected gang-rape, police said on Saturday.

The body was found earlier in the day, in the backyard of her house in a semi-naked state in Jharkhand's Latehar district.

Police suspect that the girl was sexually harassed. The incident took place in a village near Chandwa, about 80-km from Ranchi, the state capital.

"We have started investigation into the case on basis of the complaint lodged by her parents. The accused have not been identified yet but they will be caught very soon," said Chandwa police inspector Amit Gupta.

He said that the girl, a student of class-4, was last seen at a neighbour's house where many people had assembled following the spotting of a snake on Friday evening.

Family members claimed that they searched many places but the girl was not found after this incident, the inspector said.

"The girl was found in backyard of her own house on Saturday morning in a semi-naked state. Injury marks were also found on her body. Prima facie it seems that the girl was raped by a gang before being murdered," he said.

The body of the girl has been sent for post-mortem at Latehar Sadar Hospital. A doctor of the hospital, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the police version, though the official report is yet to be submitted.

Meanwhile, villagers blocked Chandwa road demanding arrest and strong action against the unknown culprits.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)