JOIN USAligarh murder: Cops take forensic aid to confirm rape
The two-and-half-year-old girl, who was strangled to death and her eyes gouged out in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district, about 400 kilometres from here, allegedly after her parents failed to repay the loan, might also have been tortured and raped before being killed.
Five cops, including an inspector, have been suspended and a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the gruesome killing, which has triggered widespread outrage.
According to the police sources, one of the arms of the little girl had been chopped and was recovered near her body, which had been thrown near a garbage dump.
"The body, which was wrapped in a plastic bag, had partially decomposed owing to the heat... one of her arms was recovered near the body... the body bore marks of injury at many places," said an official in Aligarh on Friday.
Police did not rule out rape. "We are seeking help of the medical experts to ascertain if the girl was raped... it cannot be ruled out," a senior police official said here.
The girl had gone missing on May 31 and a complaint had been lodged with the cops. Her body was recovered three days later from a garbage dump. It later turned out that a youth, from whom the father of the girl had taken some money, had perpetrated the crime after the girl's father failed to repay the loan.
Two persons, including the youth, who was among the killers, have been arrested and a massive hunt had been launched to nab another culprit, police said.
Police have slapped the National Security Act (NSA) on the accused persons and promised trial by a fast-track court.
Politicians and social activists have reacted strongly to the incident and demanded stern punishment to the culprits. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra termed the incident as "inhuman" and said that the offenders must be punished.