Amid Badlapur Sex Abuse Protests, Another Girl Raped & Murdered In Maharashtra

Kolhapur Rape Case: Amid the probe in the Badlapur rape case, another case of alleged rape and murder surfaced in Maharashtra.

Kolhapur Rape Case: Amid the probe in the Badlapur rape case, another case of alleged rape and murder surfaced in Maharashtra. Representational Image.

Source : ABPLIVE AI

Kolhapur Rape Case: Amid the ongoing protests and investigation against the alleged sexual assault case in Maharashtra's Badlapur, another case of alleged rape and murder has come to light. The incident surfaced from Kolhapur district, where the body of a 10-year-old girl was recovered from a sugarcane field on Thursday morning.

Following the recovery of the victim's body, her uncle was arrested for alleged rape and murder, a police official said. Later, it was discovered that he was actually behind the assault and murder of the girl.

This comes days after two minor girls were sexually abused by an attendant in a school in Badlapur town of Thane district. The accused in the case was identified as Dinesh Kumar Saha. He is a distant relative of the girl and her maternal uncle.

According to District Superintendent of Police Mahendra Pandit, six suspects were questioned in the case. After analysing footage from nine CCTV cameras, the real culprit was identified. The victim's family originally hails from Bihar. Last year, the family moved to Shiye village in Kolhapur, where the deceased's father works in the nearby MIDC. The accused had been living with them for the past three months.

The girl had gone missing on Wednesday evening, and her parents had filed a missing person complaint sometime later, news agency PTI reported, citing a police official.

"The minor's body was spotted in the morning by local residents in a sugarcane field just 800 metres away from her home in Shiye village under Karvir taluka. It has been established her uncle sexually assaulted the girl and then strangled her. The accused has confessed during interrogation," the official said, as quoted by PTI.

"Our probe has found he lied to the girl's mother when she inquired about the child's absence on Wednesday evening. He told her the girl had left the house in anger after he scolded her. The accused had left home before the deceased girl's father arrived on Wednesday night and came back only this morning," the official said. He raped and murdered the girl and will be produced in the court on Friday, Superintendent of Police Mahendra Pandit said.

According to the police, the girl's parents work in an industrial unit in the Shiroli MIDC area. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, said the police suspect the girl was sexually assaulted before being killed.

Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis said, "The girl's family is from Bihar. As per primary information, her uncle beat her up on Wednesday afternoon, and she left home. A local police station received a complaint at around 10 PM on Wednesday that the girl was missing. Her body was found this morning, and the police suspect sexual assault on the girl. The police have detained some suspects."

"We will go to the bottom of this case, and the perpetrators will face strict action. We will provide all possible help to the family," Fadnavis said.