Surat rape: 8-yr-old tortured for 8 days, then strangled; 86 injury marks

In a gruesome case of rape and torture an eight-year-old girl was confined, brutalised and then repeatedly raped for a week before being killed, it was reported from the southern Gujarat city of Surat on Saturday.

The police had recovered the body of the girl from a cricket ground in Bhestan area on the outskirts of Surat. After a five-hour long post-mortem, it was revealed that the girl was raped and tortured for at least eight days before being strangled to death.

The girl has not been identified yet and none from her family has come forward to claim the body. It's still not known who or how many people were involved in the heinous crime. The police are scouting the list of missing persons.

Ganesh Govekar, Forensic Head, Civil Hospital, said, ''The girl's body had 86 injury marks including ones on her private parts. Samples have been taken for forensic test to ascertain whether she was drugged or not.''

Police inspector BK Jhala said, ''The parents of the girl are yet to be identified. The police also believe that she was murdered somewhere else and the dead body has been thrown here. The victim's picture has been sent to the state police control room for an identification process.''

He said the police have registered a case of rape and also booked the unidentified accused under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. A reward of Rs 20,000 has been announced for anyone providing information about the girl.