UMERKOTE: The body of a 16-year-old girl, who had been missing from Wednesday night, was recovered from a well in a farmland near Khutugaon village within Raighar police limits in Nabarangpur district on Friday. Family members of the minor alleged that the girl was murdered and her body thrown into the well. Father Asharam Gond filed a complaint in Raighar police station in this regard.
Sources said the girl went missing from her home at around 8 pm on Wednesday. Unable to find her in the house, family members launched a frantic search for the girl in the night but could not trace her. The next day, they enquired about the girl in nearby villages and even went to their relatives’ place. However, the minor could not be found.
On Friday morning, some villagers spotted the girl’s body floating in the well in a cornfield near Khusaldihi and informed her family members. The minor’s parents rushed to the spot and identified her body.
On being informed, Raighar police along with fire services personnel reached Khusaldihi village. The girl’s body was retrieved from the well and sent to the hospital for postmortem. Later, Umerkote sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Madhusikta Mishra reached the spot with the dog squad and scientific team for investigation.
Asharam alleged that some miscreants murdered his daughter and threw her body in the well. He urged police to take strict action against those responsible for the girl’s death.
Raighar IIC Raghunath Majhi said that based on the FIR of the deceased girl’s father, police registered a case under section 302 of the IPC. Investigation is underway, he added. SDPO Mishra said the exact cause of the girl’s death can be ascertained after receiving the autopsy report. If it is found to be a case of murder, police will take action accordingly and arrest the culprits.