12-YR-OLD TRIBAL GIRL RAPED AND MURDERED IN MAHA; SEARCH ON FOR ACCUSED

GONDIA (MAHARASHTRA): A 12-year-old tribal girl has been allegedly raped and murdered in Maharashtra’s Gondia district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on April 19, they said, adding that efforts were on to nab the unidentified culprit.

Some tribal organisations staged a demonstration on Tuesday and Wednesday outside the Deori sub-divisional magistrate’s office and warned of intensifying the stir if the culprit was not arrested at the earliest.

The victim, a class 6 student, accompanied her parents to a relative’s marriage ceremony in Gotanpar village of Deori tehsil on April 19.

She was allegedly abducted from there by an unidentified person, a police official said.

After being unable to trace the girl, her parents launched a search. The victim’s decomposed body was found on April 20 in the Dhawalkhedi forest near the Gotanpar village, he said.

A team from Chichgarh police station reached the spot after being alerted and subsequently registered a case under relevant provisions.

With no arrest being made even after five days of the incident, members of some local tribal organisations staged a demonstration on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum at the sub-divisional magistrate’s office.

They demanded arrest in the case at the earliest and capital punishment for the culprit.

Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pingale and other police officials had visited the victim’s family after the incident. Pingale said they were investigating the case from different angles and the culprit would be caught soon.

THE VICTIM, A CLASS 6 STUDENT, WAS ABDUCTED ON APRIL 19 WHEN SHE WENT TO GOTANPAR VILLAGE WITH HER PARENTS FOR A WEDDING