8-year-old strangled to death in Aligarh, family members allege sexual assault

GIRL BELONGED TO THE ‘MALLAH’ (BOATMEN) COMMUNITY.

AGRA: An 8-year-old girl was strangulated to death while on her way to the school in a village in Aligarh district on Monday morning. Family members have raised apprehension of sexual assault on the girl, who was cremated on Tuesday amidst tight police security.

Police have sent the slide prepared to a forensic lab to find out if the girl was sexually assaulted before being strangulated.

Investigations were on in the case and police teams had been constituted to nab the culprits at the earliest, SSP Aligarh Kalanidhi Naithani said.

The girl residing with her family in a village in Aligarh district had left for her school on Monday at 9 am. Her grandmother later left for fields to collect fodder for cattle where she found the victim’s school bag and slippers lying under a tree. The family members in panic contacted the school and came to know that the girl never arrived at the school.

A search was launched and the girl’s body was found near the village with bleeding from the nose. Police were informed and the body was sent for post mortem on Monday night. Reliable sources revealed that the cause of death was strangulation.

A murder FIR has been lodged against the unidentified accused at Tappal police station of Aligarh.

The family members, who have raised apprehensions of a sexual assault, blocked the Tappal-Lalpur road on Monday demanding justice. The girl belongs to the ‘mallah’ (boatmen) community.