The accused, a 34-year-old tailor, has been arrested, the police said. (Representational)
A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death in a village in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district, the police said on Tuesday.
She went missing on Monday evening after she went out to play with her friends.
Her blood-stained body was found in the field near a pond on the outskirts of the village on Monday night, police said.
The accused, a 34-year-old tailor, has been arrested, the police said.
"The man had lured the girl to eat a packaged snack and then took her to the field where he allegedly raped her," a senior police official said.
Following the incident, protests erupted. Hundreds of people hit the road, holding placards and raising slogans, demanding capital punishment for the rapist.
A large number of school girls also staged a sit-in demonstration on the road, blocking vehicular movement.
While schools in the village were closed in view of the protests, police made elaborate security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident.
The Superintendent of Police Iada Martin Marbaniang has been camping in the village.
The incidents comes amid nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad.