The incident was reported from a village in Paru police station area, cops said (Representational)
A 14-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly kidnapped from her house in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar and her body was found, with injury marks all over, inside a pond, police said on Wednesday.
The incident was reported from a village in Paru police station area, Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said.
"It has been alleged by family members that the girl was kidnapped from their house on the night of August 11. A day later, the body was found lying inside a nearby pond," he said, adding that a case has been registered against six persons, all but one of them unnamed, based on the complaint.
"The one person named in the complaint belongs to the same village, and family members claim he had been infatuated with the girl and seeking her hand in marriage. We have launched a search to trace him," he told PTI Bhasha over phone.
A section of the media carried reports claiming the family suspected that the girl was raped before being murdered.
The SSP, however, said "the vaginal swab has been sent for tests and a report is awaited. As of now, inquest and post-mortem do not suggest any injuries on her private parts".
"The injury marks were on her head, neck and arms. The blows on her head and neck caused her death. Her legs were tied and a trowel, which seems to have been used by the attackers, was found close to the pond," Kumar said.
Replying to a query, he said the police was not informed when the girl was picked up from her house.
"The family members allege that the named accused had threatened to kill the girl if they did not agree to their marriage. They had lodged no complaint then either," the SSP said.
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition in assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, trained his guns at the Nitish Kumar government in the state over the incident.
"The horrific incident is proof of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar losing grip over admonition. Murders, rapes and other serious crimes have become the order of the day," alleged the RJD leader, who is also a former deputy CM.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)