Body of missing girl found, UP cops probe if she was raped

The partial skeleton of a six-year-old girl from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community was discovered on Tuesday in a remote field of her village in the Sajati police station area of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Prima facie, it appears that the girl may have been sexually assaulted before the murder, the official said on condition of anonymity. 

Police have detained three suspects, including a man named Chandrabhan, his wife Sudha and brother Sultan, for questioning, Additional DCP (South) Ankita Sharma said. She said the girl went missing on Saturday after she left the house saying she was going to her uncle who was in the same village.

After a frantic search, the victim's family approached the police the same night and filed an FIR against four persons, including Chandrabhan, his wife Sudha, brother Sultan and father Ram Prakash for abducting the minor from legal custody, Sharma said.

Forensic experts were also called in to collect scientific evidence, she added. Additional DCP (South) said the skeleton was discovered at a distance of about one and a half kilometers from her home.

“We have decided to investigate the rape angle during the postmortem, besides ascertaining the exact cause of death. We cannot rule out the possibility that the child was raped before being killed. But it is too early to conclude,” Sharma said.