Police had to break down the door to the neighbour's home, where the girl's body was
The body of a six-year-old girl who went missing on Thursday evening from her home in western Uttar Pradesh's Hapur town was found stuffed inside a trunk in a neighbour's house this morning.
Hapur Police SP Sarvesh Kumar Mishra told reporters the body had been sent for a post-mortem. Asked if this was also a rape case, he said this could only be confirmed based on the autopsy results.
"Yesterday we received reports of a missing girl. Today we were informed that some unpleasant smells were coming from a neighbour's home. A team was sent but found that the front door was locked. We broke the lock and entered the building with a field unit," Mr Mishra said.
"On entering and searching the building, we found the girl's body inside a trunk. The body was recovered and has been sent for post-mortem. We are investigating all angles," he added.
The owner of the house (where the body was found) has been taken into custody.
In dramatic videos from the area, he is attacked by a furious mob as he is being led away.
The accused was attacked by an angry mob before being led away by police
The police, however, manage to form a shield around him and take him away before he is lynched.
Other visuals showed the girl's body found stuffed inside a large metal trunk with some other clothes, and then being carried away by the police in a body bag.
The girl's father told reporters he last saw his daughter on Thursday evening, when she asked him for Rs 5. He gave her the money, after which she left home saying she wanted to buy some things.
This was at around 5.30 pm, he said.
"She did not return all that evening. Worried, we spent the whole night searching for her. The next day (Friday) we filed a police report and again spent the whole day looking for her," he said.
The father said he had been alerted to his daughter being taken by the neighbour after feed from CCTV cameras installed in the area.
On inspecting feed from CCTV cameras in the area, the father said he spotted his daughter being taken away by the accused, first on a motorbike and then into his home.