One arrested for alleged rape, murder of minor girl in Samastipur

Patna: Police on Wednesday night arrested one accused in the alleged rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Samastipur district. The arrest was made based on the victim’s mother’s statement. The girl’s body was found stuffed in a sack behind the accused’s house on the night of June 2. She had gone missing earlier that day.

According to the police, the accused, Virendra Kumar, had taken the girl around 1pm on Tuesday on the pretext of teaching her how to ride a bicycle. After an eight-hour search, her family recovered the body.

An FIR has been registered against three named accused — Mahendra Mahto, his wife Kiran Devi, and their son Virendra Kumar. Police arrested Virendra from Thehpura village under Dalsinghsarai police station area and have launched raids to nab the other two.

Sadar DSP-2 Sanjay Kumar said an SIT was formed on SP Arvind Pratap Singh’s orders given the gravity of the crime. “Virendra was arrested based on scientific and human intelligence. The post-mortem was conducted at Sadar Hospital on Wednesday. We are probing the rape angle,” he said.

He added that relevant sections of the Pocso Act will be invoked if the post-mortem confirms rape. The victim’s mother has demanded strict action and justice.