8-Year-Old Raped, Strangled in MP's Narsinghpur, Villagers Demand Bulldozer Action Against Accused

A 22-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping and strangling an eight-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district, in a crime that has left her village in Gotegaon tehsil in shock and triggered angry protests demanding swift justice.

According to police, the accused lured the child away from her school during Wednesday's lunch break, telling her that her father had sent for her. When she failed to return home after school, her worried family alerted the police, setting off an intensive search involving 40 to 50 police personnel and around 60 local villagers.

In a chilling detail that has fuelled public outrage, the accused himself joined the search party, pretending to help look for the girl he had allegedly just killed.

The eight-hour search ended in tragedy when the child's body was discovered in a ditch in a forest area, roughly 1.5 kilometres from the village.

Superintendent of Police Dr Rishikesh Meena said the breakthrough came after inputs from some girls prompted police to deploy a sniffer dog. The dog's trail led investigators directly to the accused's home, and he was taken into custody on Thursday.

News of the girl's death brought a large crowd to the mortuary where her autopsy was conducted. Grief soon turned to anger, with residents submitting a memorandum to authorities demanding the death penalty for the accused, demolition of his house, and compensation for the victim's family.

Officials confirmed the case will be tried in a fast-track court.