A truck driver was arrested on Monday in connection with the rape and murder of a six-year-old school girl in Rajasthan's Tonk district, police said.
The school girl, who had gone missing on Saturday, was found dead in her uniform at a village in Tonk district of Rajasthan, police said. The police said the school girl was raped and strangled with her school belt.
Mahendra alias Dholu had taken the girl from her school to an isolated area on the pretext of giving toffees on Saturday and committed the crime, police said.
"The accused, an acquaint to the victim, feared that the girl would narrate this to her parents and would reveal his identity and, therefore, he murdered her," SP Adarsh Sidhu told reporters in Tonk.
He was in a drunken state when he raped and murdered the girl. After that, he did not go to his home and was hiding at different places. He was planning to leave Rajasthan as soon as possible but he was caught from a place in Aligarh town, he said.
Aged around 40 years, the accused is a truck driver and a father of two girls.
"He has been arrested and being interrogated further," he added.
The school girl had gone to school on Saturday and did not return till late. Her family members started looking for her and found the body at an isolated place in Kheldi village of Aligarh town, police added.
"On Sunday morning, the blood-stained body of the six-year-old was found half a kilometre from her school," police said.
Police said the body of the girl was lying near bushes. Liquor bottles, snacks and bloodstains were also found at the spot, police officials said, adding that she was strangled with her school belt.
“Prima facie, the girl was raped and strangulated. The body has been shifted to the district hospital for postmortem,” SHO of Aligarh Police Station, Ram Krishan, said.
During the initial investigation, police said they had received the information that a sports event was organised in the school of the victim after which she went missing. He said efforts are on to identify and arrest the accused.
Police said that a medical examination is being conducted.
(With Agency Inputs)
