Missing girl found dead inside rented room of own house in Agra; accused had joined search

The eight-year-old girl had gone missing on March 24, around 4 pm, from the Siddhant Nagar locality in the Tajganj area, police said.

Two days after going missing in the Tajganj area in Uttar Pradesh's Agra, an eight-year-old girl was found dead inside the rented room of her own house, police said. The victim was found inside a flour container in a room that the family had rented out to one Sunil, the accused who allegedly also joined the search for the girl before fleeing.

The officer further stated that police teams were suspicious of a flat in the vicinity, acting upon which, they broke open the lock of a rented room. (Representative File Image)

Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Ali Abbas said the girl had gone missing from the Siddhant Nagar locality in the Tajganj area, around 4 pm on March 24, news agency PTI reported.

Soon after, the girl's family informed the police, following which authorities launched an extensive search operation.

According to Abbas, the girl was seen entering the locality in one of the CCTV cameras in the area, but did not appear in any other camera thereafter.

"Eight teams were deployed to trace the child, and CCTV footage from the surrounding areas was scanned. The girl was seen entering the locality in one camera, but did not appear in any subsequent footage," he was quoted as saying.

The officer further stated that police teams were suspicious of a flat in the vicinity, acting upon which, they broke open the lock of a rented room.

Sunil, who reportedly rented the room, used to live in the same house as the victim, Abbas added.

"During the search, the girl's body was recovered from a flour container inside the room," the officer said.

Officials said the accused is absconding, adding that multiple police teams have been formed to trace him.

The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.

Meanwhile, infuriated by the incident, locals staged protests and demanded stringent action against the accused.

Sunil had reportedly been living as a tenant in the same house as the victim for about a year while working at the eight-year-old's family's shoe factory, according to a neighbour.

She also claimed that Sunil had initially joined the search for the missing girl, but later he locked his room and fled, raising suspicion among the locals and cops.

Last week, a one-month-old baby was found dead inside her home in the Bareilly cantonment area. However, the police later confirmed that the infant died due to illness.

The child's parents, Shadab and his wife Hina alias Saina, survive by begging, police said, citing preliminary findings.

The parents had allegedly left their children, along with the newborn, inside the house to go and beg. When they returned at night, they found the infant dead inside.

Earlier this month, a man was arrested after an encounter for killing a 4-year-old girl in UP's Nandgram area.

The Nandgram police reportedly received information about a child lying injured in a field, who was taken to a nearby hospital by her parents, where she succumbed to her injuries.

The family's neighbour, Prajapati, had taken the child away with him under the pretext of buying her toffees. However, he did not return.