Rajasthan: 6-year-old abducted, raped, strangled to death with school belt
In a shocking incident, a six-year-old schoolgirl was abducted, allegedly raped and strangled to death with her school belt, in Rajasthan's Tonk district. She was found dead in her school uniform on Sunday, one day after she went missing. Her blood-stained body was found lying near bushes in a remote area, close to her village Khetadi. Here are more details.
According to the police, there was a sports event at the girl's school on Saturday, after which she went missing. As she did not return home by 3 pm, her family looked for her at farms and relatives' homes for hours. On Sunday morning, her dead body, stained in blood, was found some half a kilometer away from her school premises.
Tonk Additional Superintendent of Police Vipin Sharma said that the family didn't approach police on Saturday. He said, "Family members told us they thought that she would be in a nearby house and must be sleeping, that's why they didn't lodge any missing person's report."
Reportedly, the dead body was spotted by some villagers, who then informed the police. Subsequently, police and a forensics team arrived at the crime spot. The police said some liquor bottles, snacks, and bloodstains were also found in the area. Thereafter, the body was sent for post-mortem examination. Although no arrests have been made so far, investigations are currently underway to nab the accused.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against unknown persons under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Notably, the harrowing incident has surfaced at a time when there are widespread protests around the country over many gruesome incidents of alleged gang-rape and murder. On Wednesday, a 27-year-old lady veterinarian was gang-raped and burnt to death by four men in Telangana's Shadnagar, near Hyderabad. In the same week, a 25-year-old law student was allegedly gang-raped by some armed men in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
