The burnt remains of a body, which is suspected to be that of a 14-year-old girl who went missing in Narshinghpura village in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan, were found in a kiln in the village late on Wednesday night, 2 August.
Adarsh Sidhu, Bhilwara Superintendent of Police, said that on Wednesday night, the Kotri Police in Bhilwara received information that a group of villagers found the burnt body of the girl who went missing earlier that day while she was allegedly grazing goats in the area.
The girl's belongings, like her slippers and bangles, were found near the burning kiln, the police said. Prima facie, she was murdered before being burnt, they added.
SP Sidhu said they have identified four persons for their alleged involvement in the case and have detained three of them for questioning.
"We cannot rule out gang rape, but it can only be ascertained once DNA and forensic results are back," the SP said.
The kiln where the remains were found.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
What Happened?
The girl's older brother said she had gone out to graze the goats in a forest nearby at around 8 am on Wednesday from their home in Narshinghpura village.
"At around 3 pm, the goats returned, but she wasn't back. Worried, we went looking for her. But by 7 pm, we couldn't find her. At 8 pm, we went to the forest area again. But we saw a kiln being burnt late in the night nearby. There were 3-4 kilns, but only one of them was burning," the brother said.
Suspicious, the search party went to the burning kiln where they found a pair of the victim's slippers. They also found remains of bones as well as bangles that supposedly belonged to her.
Based on the villagers' statements, four people have been identified as suspects, and three of them are being questioned.
A large group of people has gathered at the scene of the crime, some of whom said they would not leave the area until the culprits are arrested. Bhilwara District Collector Ashish Modi, Ajmer Range IG Lata Manoj Kumar, and several police and administrative officials were present at the spot.
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