Uttar Pradesh: A partial skeleton of a six-year-old girl from the Scheduled Caste was discovered Tuesday in an isolated field of her village in Kanpur's Sajati police station area, police said.
According to an officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity, it appears that the girl was sexually molested before being killed.
Police have detained three suspects for questioning, including a man called Chandrabhan, his wife Sudha, and his brother Sultan, according to Additional DCP (South) Ankita Sharma.
Girl went missing
She claimed the girl went missing on Saturday after leaving her house, stating she was headed to her uncle's residence in the same area.
After a frantic search, the victim's family went to the police the same night and lodged an FIR against four people, including Chandrabhan, his wife Sudha, brother Sultan and father Ram Prakash, for kidnapping the minor, Sharma said.
Forensic experts were also called to gather evidence, she added.
Additional DCP (South) said the skeleton was located around one-and-a-half kilometres from the victim's house.
"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," Sharma said.
(With PTI Inputs)
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