A six-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by an unidentified person in Kampu area in Gwalior, a police official said on Friday.
The incident took place on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday and her mutilated body was recovered from the bushes near a wedding venue, where she had gone along with her family, the official said.
“The victim, who was sleeping beside her family members at the wedding venue, got up in the middle of the night as she felt thirsty. She went to a water point there to quench her thirst,” the official said.
“When she did not return, her worried family members launched a search, but failed to find her,” the police official added.
According to various media reports, the accused lured the girl on the pretext of buying her an ice-cream.
The investigators and the victim’s kin went through the CCTV footage, after which they recovered her body from the nearby bushes on Thursday morning.
The police said that a man can be seen taking the girl away in the CCTV footage.
“The footage shows that the girl tried to run away, probably after suspecting his intentions. However, the man succeeded in persuading her again. Around 2:30 am, he can be seen returning alone,” an officer said.
After being sexually assaulted, the minor was strangulated.
Gwalior SP Navneet Bhasin said police have formed teams to nab the accused.
(With agency inputs)