Tribal girl raped, killed in Jharkhand’s Dumka; 1 held: Police

On Friday, the locals found the girl hanging from a tree near Shri Amra village under the Vishwavidyalaya outpost area in Dumka.

The Jharkhand Police on Saturday arrested a man on the charges of rape and murder, a day after the body a minor tribal girl was found hanging from a tree in the state’s Dumka district, officials familiar with the matter said.

The body a minor tribal girl was found hanging from a tree in the state’s Dumka district, officials familiar with the matter said. (Representative use)

“The girl was unidentified when her body was recovered on Friday. Now the girl has been identified. She is a minor. A case has been registered under sections 302, 376 and 201 of the IPC, section 4 of the Posco Act and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act. The accused has been arrested and further investigation is on,” said Sudershan Mandal, deputy inspector general (DIG), Dumka range. The DIG added that the postmortem of the girl confirmed that she was pregnant.

On Friday, the locals found the girl hanging from a tree near Shri Amra village under the Vishwavidyalaya outpost area in Dumka. The police soon took custody of the body and started an investigation, officials said.

On Saturday, the tribal girl was identified as a resident of a village under Ranishwar police station area limits, officials said, adding that she was a daily wager and that is how she came in contact with the accused, identified as Arman Ansari, a mason by profession.

The incident comes within a fortnight of the death of another minor who succumbed to injuries after she was set on fire by her alleged stalker in Dumka.

Reacting to the latest incident, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) again hit out at the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led state government for failing law and order situation in the state.

“This news from Dumka boils our blood. The allegation is that she was killed by Arman Ansari and changed from the tree. Arman has been arrested. However, how many tribal girls would be killed by such monsters,” said Babulal Marandi, former chief minister and BJP legislature party leader, in a tweet.

JMM general secretary and Jama MLA Sita Soren said the incident is unfortunate and police should ensure justice for the victim soon.

“Body of the girl was found hanging from a tree. She is said to have been killed. This is a very unfortunate incident, and Dumka police should arrest and ensure the strictest punishment to the accused,” she said.

Chief minister Hemant Soren also shared his condolences in a Twitter post. “Deeply hurt by the Dumka incident. The accused has been arrested. Have also directed Dumka police to take strict action and ensure justice.”