Girl found dead outside school

Exactly three years after a horrific gang rape shook the city, a 13-year-old girl was found dead outside a government school in Narela. Circumstances under which the body was found suggest she was raped and murdered.

The victim’s face bore scratch marks and blood patches were found on her private parts, said police sources. Senior officers said they would await the autopsy report before jumping to conclusions.

The girl was enrolled in class eight at a government school in her locality. Her body, though, was found outside another government school, about a kilometre away from her home in Outer Delhi’s Narela.

She was living with her parents and five siblings in a modest house in the area for several years. Her parents are employed at a factory in the area but were away at their native village in Bihar at the time of the tragedy.

On Tuesday, the six siblings returned home by 5 p.m. after attending their respective tuition classes. “A few minutes later, I gave her Rs. 25 and asked her to buy a soap bar from a nearby shop,” said her older sister.

The girl did not return for almost an hour upon which a search in the nearby localities was launched and the police was informed around 7 p.m.

A missing complaint was filed at Narela police station and several policemen were sent out to look for the girl. CCTV footage obtained from a nearby street showed her returning from the shop with the soap bar but her siblings say she never reached home.

It was around 7 a.m. on Wednesday when a passerby noticed the victim’s body on the roadside and informed the police.

The spot where the body was recovered is barely 100 metres from the school’s gates.

“The body appeared to be covered with dry leaves. Her clothes were intact but there were large blood patches on the lower parts of her clothes. It appeared the girl was sexually abused and strangled,” a police officer told The Hindu.

She was holding a soap bar in one hand and a one-rupee coin in the other, said an eyewitness.

Her brother was called to the spot to identify the victim after which the body was sent to a mortuary.

The post-mortem is likely to be conducted on Thursday when the victim’s parents reach the city.

Police have picked up some local youths for questioning, but the police claimed to be clueless about the identity of the assailants at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, the girl’s siblings said that while she spoke less, she took keen interest in studies. “She aspired to become a doctor and drew beautiful diagrams. I don’t see any reason why anyone would harm her,” said her 15-year-old sister.

With no adults in the family at the time of the tragedy, it was the victim’s eldest brother who went about assisting the police while the younger children stayed at home through Wednesday, waiting for their parents to return.

The police have picked up some local youths for questioning, but claimed to be clueless about the identity of the assailants.

Photo Caption: Spot where the child’s body was found. Photo: Special Arrangement