In the sensational murder and rape case of an 11-year-old unidentified girl in Surat, the Gujarat Police is apparently zeroing in on the possibility of crime being committed outside the State.
On April 6, 2018 dead body of the girl was found near a cricket ground in Pandesara area of Surat which sustained more than 80 injury marks. The police also came to conclusion that the girl had been harassed for almost a week and there were injuries in her private parts also.
Gujarat’s Minister of State for home Pradipsinh Jadeja said that preliminary investigations suggest that she was perhaps kidnapped, raped and then dumped here in Surat after the crime was committed. The police had scanned details of 8,000 missing girls and prima facie it appears that the girl child may be from outside Gujarat and that is making it a bit difficult for us to reach her parents.
Jadeja confirmed that the victim was strangled to death and post mortem indicated that she was tortured and raped for minimum eight days. The police have not found any signs of struggle at the spot where her body was recovered, said Surat Police Commissioner Satish Sharma adding that it would indicate that crime was committed somewhere else.
The police said that looking at the features of the girl, she appeared to be from Bengal or Odisha. The State police has now sought for the help of Bengal and Odisha police in the case.
The police has already registered a case of rape and booked unidentified accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso Act) and announced a reward of Rs 20,000 for anyone providing any lead or information about the girl or her family. A local builder from Surat on his part has announced a reward of Rs 5,00,000 from the same purpose.