The police are investigating whether the girl was abducted and killed. (File photo)
A 14-year-old student of a government school, who went missing from Hyderabad's Meerpet two days ago, was found dead near a church in the area. The girl had left her home on Saturday morning for a walk but never returned, her parents told police. Her body was found this morning. The police are investigating whether she was abducted and killed.
Her parents, residents of Rajeevgruhakalpa, said their daughter studied in Class 8. She had gone out but when she didn't come back home, they started searching for her.
Her body was found in an open area, just a few buildings from where she lived with her parents. The area is reportedly part of the church. The police haven't found any injury marks on her body, but they believe that her body might have been dumped there.
"It is possible that her body was brought and dumped here. We are examining the CCTV footage of the area,'' Meerpet inspector and Ranga Swamy told NDTV.
The police have filed a case of suspicious death and her body has been sent to Osmania hospital for post-mortem.
"Whether it is a murder or suicide will be known after the post-mortem report," the officer said.
Two years ago, NDTV had reported that young girls from Meerpet area and students of Jillelaguda High School were being harassed and sexually exploited by a local goon.
The accused, Kittu, was arrested, but the case fell flat as the girls were reluctant to come forward and file a complaint.
Later, Kittu was seen hobnobbing with local policemen and posing for photographs during a rally by schoolchildren against sexual harassment.
The police have so far failed to establish a link between Vaishnavi's case and the harassment of local girls, but they are investigating her disappearance and death from all angles.