Missing 15-year-old Dalit girl found dead in Bihar’s Ara

The girl had been strangulated with her dupatta, police said, adding the body has been sent for a post-mortem to determine if there was any sexual assault

A 15-year-old Dalit girl who went missing Tuesday night was found dead in a field Wednesday morning, police said. Police said the post mortem would establish whether she was sexually assaulted.

A 15-year-old girl, who went missing on Tuesday night, was found dead on Wednesday in Bihar’s Bhojpur district. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The girl was resident of Pachaina Bazar’s Pasi Tola of Bhojpur district. Police said the assailant had used her duppatta to strangulate her.

Family members told police that they had searched for the teenager all through Tuesday night only to final her body the next morning from the fields. Police were soon informed.

The incident sparked angry protests by local people who blocked the Sakaddi Jamalpur Road before police intervened and pacified them. But the police denied that the protest affected traffic movement.

Police have launched an investigation into the murder.

Station house officer of Koilwar police station, Pankaj Kumar Saini said, “We have found a cell phone, probably of the victim, from the site. There are some numbers and photos in the mobile of the victim. The cell phone, I am sure, will help us identify and track the persons responsible for committing the crime,” he said.

The body was sent to Ara Sadar Hospital for autopsy.

Murders across Bihar have shot up alarmingly with police records confirming 550 killings since January 1 this year which translates to more than four murders a day. Police, however, say the figure is not alarming.