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A minor girl, who was allegedly raped and murdered at Surat in Gujarat on April 6 is suspected to be from Odisha, said director general of police (DGP) R P Sharma. Sharma revealed this after Surat police commissioner Satish Sharma called him up on Monday and sought Odisha’s cooperation in ascertaining the girl’s identity.
“We received the girl’s photo from Surat police and immediately circulated it among our SPs for identification. Surat police suspect that the girl’s native place is in Odisha as the area where the body was found is largely inhabited by Odias,” Sharma told the media.
Police have also been advised to take the help of local communities and NGOs in districts to identify the girl. The Ganjam district police has specifically been asked to put in extra effort as the number of people from the region are settled in Surat. Besides, a number of migrant workers from Odisha visit Surat every year in search of livelihood.
Surat police on Sunday said the girl’s body bore 86 injury marks, including in her private parts, before she was strangulated to death. Her body with numerous injury marks was found in Pandesara in Surat on April 6. The police said she was held captive, tortured and raped before being killed. Surat police said they verified photos of almost all missing girls in Gujarat, but were unable to trace her.
An FIR was lodged under sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 376 (rape) of the IPC and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) against unidentified persons.
Prasanta Patnaik