An eight-year-old girl in Andhra Pradesh’s Nandyal district was gang-raped and murdered allegedly by three school seniors, all minors. Later, they dumped her body in a canal to destroy evidence, the police said.
The victim was a Class 3 student, and two of the accused, aged 12, are studying in the sixth standard. The third boy, aged 13, is in Class 7.
The incident occurred in Pagidyala on Sunday, but the crime came to the fore on Wednesday after the police arrested the suspects.
The father of the girl had filed a missing person complaint on Sunday, stating that his daughter, who was playing in the park, had disappeared.
Despite extensive searches in Muchumarri Park and interrogations of locals for leads, the police were unable to locate the girl. They then deployed a sniffer dog to aid in the search.
The dog’s clues led the police to the residences of the three minor boys. Following an initial investigation, the boys were arrested.
During questioning, the boys reportedly confessed to raping and murdering the young girl.
According to their statement, the boys noticed the girl playing near Muchumarri Park. They asked her to join them for a game and she agreed.
Subsequently, they took her to a secluded area near the Muchumarri irrigation project and assaulted her in turn. Fearing repercussions if the girl reported the assault to her parents, they decided to murder her. They later disposed of her body in a nearby canal and fled the scene.
Source: India Today