Eight-year-old Dalit girl found dead; police say she was raped, murdered

An eight-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and murdered in Pagariya region of Jhalawar on Wednesday, police said.

Jhalawar police said that a Dalit girl of Nolai village in Pagariya region of Jhalawar district was missing since Tuesday evening when she had gone for grazing cattle.

Station house officer, Pagariya police station, Radha Kishan, said that the parents of the missing girl informed police on Tuesday night about their daughter following which police started to search for the girl.

The partly naked body of the girl was found in an agricultural field by the villagers on Wednesday morning and informed the police. A stick and a pair of slippers were also found near the body.

There were no visible injury marks on her body except a scratch on her chest. She lived with her maternal grandparents in a village, said Radha Kishan.

After returning from school on Tuesday, she went to graze cattle near her home with other children of the village, but when she did not return home till late in the evening, her family members started looking for her, the SHO said. Her body was spotted the next morning in the mustard field, about 200 to 300 metres away from her home, the officer said.

While the police and villagers were discussing about the incident, a man present in the crowd went to his house and tried to commit suicide by holding a live wire, police said.

He was taken to Jhalawar hospital where he is undergoing treatment. His condition is said to be critical, Radha Kishan said. Parents of the girl alleged that the man killed the girl. He will be interrogated when he recovers, police said.

A case was registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said and added the body was handed over to the family members after post-mortem.

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