HYDERABAD: Police on Saturday detained the neighbour of a six-year-old girl who was raped and murdered at Singareni Colony in Saidabad on Thursday.
Though the police denied nabbing the suspect, an auto driver, it is learnt that he was taken into custody from his native village in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. The police also didn’t disclose the identity of the alleged suspect.
The body of the girl, who was missing since 5 pm Thursday, was found in the house of her neighbour after midnight.
Autopsy done at Osmania General Hospital revealed that the child was sexually assaulted and strangulated to death.
The horrific incident had triggered angry protests from locals on Friday.
They staged a sit-in for several hours on Champapet-Sagar Road, demanding immediate and harshest punishment to the guilty. Protesters pelted stones and additional forces had to be rushed in to control the flare-up.
The family of the girl lodged a complaint at the Saidabad police station after their extensive search failed to trace her. As the neighbour of the victim was not to be seen, the girl’s mother got suspicious and, along with police, went to his house only to find the body of their daughter wrapped in a bedsheet. The body was in a seminaked condition.
When the police were shifting the victim’s body, protesters obstructed them demanding justice for her, besides asking the government to pay compensation to her parents. Police registered a rape and murder case.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
