A 17-year-old girl was found dead near her house in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district, with police suspecting that she was raped and murdered, a senior officer said on Monday.
The body of the class 11 student was recovered from an isolated place around 2.5 km from her house on Sunday, he said.
According to police, the girl had left home with her seven-year-old cousin, saying she was going to her brother and sister-in-law’s house. After some time, the boy returned home, following which the family launched a search for the girl. Her body was subsequently found in bushes.
"Prima facie, it has been found that the girl was strangled to death. However, rape can only be confirmed after the post-mortem report arrives," Muri outpost in-charge Vikash Paswan said.
The post-mortem examination will be conducted later in the day, he said.
A forensic science laboratory (FSL) team collected evidence from the crime scene. No one has been arrested in connection with the case so far, the officer said.
An FIR will be registered based on a complaint by the victim’s father. Further investigation is underway, he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
