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.
6-Year-Old Girl's Body Found At Bengaluru Railway Station, Cops Suspect Rape 11-Year-Old Boy Murdered For Opposing Minor Sister's Molestation In UP: Cops Delhi Court Sentences Man To 10 Years Of Jail In Child Marriage, Rape Case Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah To Be Prosecuted In Land Scam Case Life On Earth Originates From One Ancestor, Older Than Previously Believed Kolkata Rape-Murder: Fractures, 150 mg Semen, Other Claims Denied By Cops Pak-Origin 26/11 Accused Tahawwur Rana Can Be Sent To India: US Court Mumbai University Invites Applications For Distance Learning Courses 17 Palestinians Killed In Israeli Strike On Gaza Amid Raging War Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.