BARGARH: Police on Monday arrested a youth on charges of murdering a 17-year-old girl whose mutilated body was found in a forest at Burla in Sambalpur district.
The accused is 21-year-old Raj Barik of Attabira. The teenage girl of Bargarh town had eloped with Raj on March 20. While another suspect has also been detained for his involvement in the crime, police are tight-lipped about the motive behind the murder.
After the girl’s decomposed body was recovered on Sunday, police detained Raj for questioning and later arrested him. On the day, police also recreated the crime scene to establish the sequence of events.
Sources said after failing to trace the girl, her family members lodged a missing complaint with Bargarh Town police. As part of investigation, police tracked the minor’s mobile phone and traced it to the forest, around 1 km from Zero Point in Burla.
On reaching the forest on Sunday, the cops found the girl’s decomposed body with multiple injury marks.
Additional SP Indurekha Paschima Kabat said with the help of CCTV footage, it was found that the girl was taken away from her home by two youths on a motorcycle. “The prime accused was produced in court after his medical examination. Postmortem of the deceased’s body has also been conducted. No further details or information can be provided now as investigation is underway,” the ASP added.
Police sources said there were multiple cut injuries on the head, face, neck and both the hands, suggesting a brutal attack on the victim. It appeared that she strongly resisted the attack but was overpowered. The face was partially mutilated due to the assault. Police are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain sexual assault on the victim.
Meanwhile, the deceased girl’s family has demanded stringent punishment for all the culprits involved in her murder.