Days after Aligarh murder case, 8-year-old girl raped and killed in Bhopal; body recovered from drain near house

The anger over the brutal murder of a two-and-a-half year old toddler in Aligarh was still simmering when a similar case was reported from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, where the body of an eight-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped, was found in a drain on Sunday. Preliminary investigation revealed that she died of strangulation after being raped, a police official said. [caption id=“attachment_4404937” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The girl had ventured out of her house in Kamla Nagar area of Bhopal around 8 pm on Saturday to buy something. When she did not return, her family members approached the police, the official said. Her body was found near a drain in the same area on Sunday morning, he said. “We are waiting for a detailed report. We have identified an accused and a police team has launched a search for him,” he added. Inspector General (Bhopal zone) Yogesh Deshmukh told reporters that the Kamla Nagar police station had received a complaint on Saturday night about the girl going missing. “The police searched for her in the night. Her body was found around 5 am today (Sunday),” he said. Some policemen were suspended after the girl’s family members alleged that the police did not act on their complaint after she went missing. Speaking to the media, the state’s home minister Bala Bachchan said that half-a-dozen policemen, including a head constable, were suspended, pending inquiry, for inaction in the case. Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur also paid a visit to the bereaved family,  News18 reported. Former home minister and BJP leader Uma Shankar Gupta said the girl could have been saved if police had acted swiftly. Minister for Public Relations PC Sharma said a high level inquiry would be conducted in the matter, according to  Hindustan Times.  The girl’s uncle said, “She went out to purchase gutkha but never returned. We went to the police station but they did not respond and even said that she must have gone away with someone.” Later, the family members searched for the girl at the railway station and in other areas of the city. They also contacted a local corporator who alerted the police, he said. “The police personnel reached our locality late in the night but they kept sitting there instead of looking for her,” he claimed. With inputs from PTI