In a shocking incident, an eight-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped and murdered by three senior students of the same school she was studying in at Muchumarri in Nandyala district of Andhra Pradesh, the police said.
The three minor accused, who are in the age bracket of 12 to 13 years, allegedly disposed of the girl’s body in an irrigation canal. The girl’s body is yet to be recovered, the incident having occurred more than 300 km from Andhra capital Amaravati.
In his complaint to the local police, the Class III student’s father alleged that the girl was last seen playing at Muchumarri park, but did not return home.
The police launched a search operation and questioned the local residents, but could not trace her. A sniffer dog was pressed into service, which led the police to the three minor boys, two of whom are Class VI students and one of Class VII.
Upon being questioned by the police, the boys confessed to allegedly raping and murdering the girl. The trio said they spotted the victim playing in the park and joined her.
Later, they then took the girl to a secluded spot near the Muchumarri dam and took turns to rape her. Worried that they may be in trouble if the girl told her parents about the assault, they allegedly murdered her and threw her body in the nearby canal, as per the revelation by the boys to the police.
A police official said the case was still being treated as a missing persons case as the girl’s body was yet to be found.
