PATNA: A six-year-old girl was allegedly found raped and murdered on Sunday near a pond under the University police station limits in Bihar’s Darbhanga town.
Sources said that the child had left her house on Saturday evening to play with two girls of the same age, but she did not return, leaving her family members anxious about her safety.
Relatives and neighbours started searching for the girl in panic as her whereabouts were unknown even after hours.
Locals rushed to a deserted area on hearing the barking of dogs near a pond early on Sunday, where they found the girl’s body lying in a pool of blood, prompting them to inform the police immediately.
Officers from the University police station rushed to the scene and sent the body for post-mortem examination.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Darbhanga, Jagunath Reddy, supervised the investigation.
Teams from the forensic science laboratory and the cyber cell were also deployed to collect evidence. “A six-year-old child’s body has been recovered. We are conducting a thorough investigation, and all teams have been pressed into service to crack the case at the earliest,” SSP Reddy told the media.
In its preliminary investigation, police found that three children had been playing together near the pond. The accused allegedly tried to catch all of them, but managed to make only one of them his hostage.
The other two children escaped and later narrated the incident to their families. Children informed police that they recognised the man behind the kidnapping.
Police showed them CCTV footage from nearby areas, following which they identified the suspect as Vikas Mahto, a resident of the same locality.
Police teams raided his residence and arrested him. Officers said bloodstains were found on his clothes at the time of his arrest. He has been taken into custody for questioning. “He will be produced before the court after interrogation,” an investigating officer said.
SSP Reddy said the exact sequence of events would be clear only after the post-mortem report is received.
Agitated over the incident, residents blocked a main road near Sundarpur Bela Temple and demanded swift justice. Protesters called for the accused to be handed over to them, raising slogans against the police administration.
Heavy police deployment was made in the area to prevent any untoward incident. Later on Saturday night, SSP Reddy visited the crime scene and promised the family that no one involved would be spared.