Man arrested for killing of Muslim girl in the US

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old American Muslim girl who was beaten and abducted after leaving a mosque in the US state of Virginia.

What is thought to be her remains were found in a pond in the town of Sterling, Virginia.

The attack took place early on Sunday after the victim and friends walking outside the mosque got into a dispute with a motorist in the town, Fairfax county police said.

At one point, the motorist got out of his car and assaulted the girl. The teenager was reported missing by her friends, who scattered during the attack and could not find her afterwards, sparking an hours-long search by authorities in the counties of Fairfax and Loudoun.

At a bout 3pm, the body of a female believed to be the teenage victim was found in a pond.

During the search for the girl, authorities stopped a motorist “driving suspiciously in the area” and arrested the driver, later identified as Darwin Martinez Torres, 22.

Police obtained a warrant that charges Mr Torres with the girl’s murder. A police spokeswoman said the attack came after a row between the man, the girl and her female friends, and authorities had not ruled out hate as a motivation for the attack.

The attack elicited an outpouring of grief in a Muslim community that has been gathering to pray at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque, about 48 kilometres outside Washington, DC, in observance of the last 10 days of Ramadan.