Darbhanga: 6-year-old raped and murdered; suspect arrested as mob turns violent

Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jagunath Raddi said the accused, a 22-year-old from the neighbourhood, has been arrested

A six-year-old girl playing with two friends near her house in north Bihar’s Darbhanga district was abducted, raped and killed on Saturday evening, police said.

On X, the Rashtriya Janata Dal attacked the Bihar government over the six-year-old girl’s rape, saying the police was only bothered about “earnings from illegal liquor traders, extortion, and collections” (X/RJDforIndia)

Police said the gruesome crime sparked widespread public outrage and led to a road blockade near the Sundarpur Bela temple on Sunday morning. The protest turned violent soon after, with local residents throwing stones at the police and setting an autorickshaw on fire. Police used a lathi charge to disperse the angry mob.

Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jagunath Raddi said the accused, a 22-year-old from the neighbourhood, has been arrested. He was identified following the statements of the two minor girls who were playing with the victim.

Raddi said the child had gone missing on Saturday evening while playing near her home with the two girls. After an evening-long search, the family’s friends and relatives went to a pond in the locality when they heard some dogs barking incessantly. They found the girl’s body near a wall close to the pond.

Local police officers were the first ones at the scene. Raddi also went to the spot along with teams from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

On Sunday, Raddi said the girl’s body was sent to Darbhanga Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem. “The case is being investigated from all angles,” he said.