A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district on Saturday, police said.
“The incident took place at about 5pm on Saturday when the girl had gone towards a farm on the outskirts of the village. Her body was found in an orchard,” Mainpuri superintendent of police Ajay Shankar Rai said.
The girl appeared to have been strangled with her own dupatta (scarf) after the sexual assault, police said, adding that her body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.
The girl’s father has lodged an FIR at Bhogaon police station against Shintu Yadav alias Shivam (22) who was untraceable after the crime.
“Some of his family members are being questioned to get clues about the suspect,” Rai said.
Four teams have been constituted to trace the suspect. Forensic experts and a dog squad have also been called in.
Additional superintendent of police Om Prakash Singh was camping at the village to supervise the search operation.