A partial skeleton of a six-year-old girl found in a town in UP's Kanpur, police said. (Representational)
A partial skeleton of a six-year-old girl of a Scheduled Caste (SC) community was discovered Tuesday from a secluded field of her village at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, police said.
Prima facie it looks like the girl might have been sexually assaulted before being murdered, said an official on the condition of anonymity.
Police have detained three suspects, including a man named Chandrabhan, his wife Sudha and brother Sultan, for interrogation, said Additional DCP (South) Ankita Sharma.
She said the girl went missing on Saturday after she left her house saying that she was going to her uncle's place which was located in the same village.
After making a frantic search, the victim's family approached police the same night and lodged an FIR against four persons, including Chandrabhan, his wife Sudha, brother Sultan and father Ram Prakash for kidnapping the minor from lawful guardianship, Ms Sharma said.
The forensic experts were also called to gather scientific evidence, she added. Additional DCP (South) said the skeleton was discovered at a distance of around one and a half kilometres from her home.
"We have decided to explore the rape angle during post-mortem examination apart from ascertaining the exact cause of death. We cannot rule out the possibility of the child being raped before being killed. But, it is too early to reach a conclusion," Ms Sharma said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)