A man allegedly raped an eight-year-old girl before strangling her in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district, triggering protests by locals who demanded that his house be bulldozed, a police official said on Friday.
The incident occurred on Wednesday and the 22-year-old accused, who had also joined the search to trace the girl, was arrested on Thursday, the official said.
The man allegedly approached the girl at her school during the lunch break on Wednesday and asked her to accompany him, claiming that her father had called her home.
When she did not reach home after school hours, her family informed the police.
After an eight-hour search, the child's body was found in a ditch in a forest, about 1.5 kilometres from the village, the official said.
Superintendent of Police Dr Rishikesh Meena said that when 40 to 50 cops and about 60 villagers were searching for the girl, the accused also pretended to be looking for her.
Following inputs from some girls, the police pressed a sniffer dog into service. The canine led the cops to the home of the accused.
A large number of people gathered outside the mortuary where doctors conducted the girl's autopsy on Thursday. Later, they gave a memorandum to the authorities demanding death penalty for the accused, demolition of his house and compensation for the victim's family, the official said.
Sensing trouble, police took the body to the victim's village through another route, he said.
The official said the case will be tried in a fast-track court.
Meanwhile, the market in the village in Gotegaon tehsil remained shut as a mark of protest over the incident. Villagers also took out a candle march.
Police have been deployed in the victim's village to maintain law and order considering the outrage among the local residents, the official said.
Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Umang Singhar, met the victim's grieving family members at their village.
He also provided a financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh to the family.
In a statement, Singhar said this inhuman and heartbreaking incident has shaken the entire Madhya Pradesh.
He said he stands with the victim's family in this hour of grief.
The Congress leader urged Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to hand over the case to a fast-track court and give harshest punishment to the culprit.
Only swift and strict action against such heinous crimes can restore society's faith in the law, he said, adding that the fight for justice will continue.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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