Man held for rape, murder of girl in Jharkhand’s Palamu

Medininagar (Jharkhand), Oct 22 (PTI) A 21-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping and strangulating to death a girl in Jharkhand’s Palamu district on Wednesday, a police officer said.

The accused, identified as Arun Kumar, allegedly threw the body into a pond after the murder and dumped her clothes in a well, he said.

The incident occurred at a village within Patan police station limits on October 16.

"On October 16, the 14-year-old victim left her home, saying she was going to sleep at her cousin’s house. When she did not return home the next day, her family members enquired and found that she had not reached her cousin’s house. Around 4.30 pm on October 17, her body was found in a pond near the village," Medininagar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Mani Bhusan Prasad told PTI.

Prasad said the accused allegedly caught the girl midway on the way to her cousin’s home and raped her at an isolated place on the same night.

"Thereafter, the accused strangled her and dumped her body in the pond. The victim’s phone was thrown in the pond, while her slippers and clothes were found in a well," Prasad said. PTI SAN SAN MNB