A nine-year-old girl was found dead at Jeowal village in Kiratpur Sahib on Thursday morning. She is suspected to have been murdered after being raped, sources said.
The girl, a class-3 student at the government elementary school in Jeowal, did not return home after going to school on Wednesday. Her parents informed the police who found the girl's half-naked body in the bushes near the Anandpur Sahib hydel channel. The body bore strangulation marks. It is suspected that the girl was raped before being killed.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Rupnagar, Varinder Paul Singh and superintendent of police (SP) (investigation) Harmit Singh Hundal along with other officers visited the spot.
Hundal said the exact cause of death would be ascertained after the autopsy. The police have registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 376 A (rape), 302 (murder) and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act against unidentified persons at Kiratpur Sahib police station.
Former Congress MLA Rana KP Singh stormed the police station along with his supporters demanding immediate arrest of the accused. He said a special investigation team should be formed to look into the incident.