The girl’s parents work in an industrial unit in Shiroli MIDC area, police said.

Kolhapur:

The body of a 10-year-old girl was found in a sugarcane field in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. The girl left her house last night after an argument with her uncle over her excessive phone usage, news agency PTI quoted police as saying. The girl’s uncle has been arrested for her alleged rape-murder, police said.

When she did not return home for a long time, her parents began a frantic search. Later, the minor’s body was found by locals in a field, just 800 metres from her house in Shiye village in Karvir taluka.

After receiving the information, police and a medical team arrived at the scene. Police said the body has been sent for autopsy and further investigations are underway.

“It is established that her uncle sexually abused the girl and then strangled her. The accused confessed during interrogation,” a police official told News PTI.

“Our investigation has revealed that he lied to the girl’s mother when she asked about the child’s absence on Wednesday evening. He told her that the girl had left the house in anger after he scolded her. The accused had left the house before the deceased girl’s father arrived on Wednesday evening and returned only this morning,” the officer said.

The girl’s parents work in an industrial unit in Shiroli MIDC area, police said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said strict action would be taken against the perpetrators and the state government would provide all possible help to the girl’s family.

“The girl’s family is from Bihar. Initial information suggests that her uncle beat her up on Wednesday afternoon and she ran away from home. A local police station received a missing girl complaint at around 10 pm on Wednesday. Her body was found this morning and police suspect that the girl was sexually abused. Police have arrested some suspects and investigation is on,” said Mr Fadnavis.

“We will get to the bottom of this case and take strict action against the perpetrators. We will provide all possible help to the family,” he added.

The incident, which came days after two kindergarten children were sexually abused by a male caregiver at a school in Thane last week, sparked massive protests in the town of Badlapur as angry parents, residents and others blocked the railway tracks and vandalised the school.

In the Badlapur case, a 23-year-old school janitor was arrested. Public outrage was also fuelled by the fact that parents had to wait 11 hours to file a police complaint; three police officers involved were suspended.